Paths Of Avidity
by PersonaOfBetrayal
Summary: For as long as time could remember, the Yevonites and the Al Bhed had always been at strife with each other. However one fateful night occurs at the heart of the Yevon religion, St. Bevelle, in which strange fiends invade and kill mindlessly. The turmoil brings together two people from different walks of life, who together uncover lost chapters of Spira's dark past. TxY, AU
1. The Chaotic Beginning

**Chapter I**

* * *

_Alongside one world known as Spira, there is another unknown to most mortal men._

_In all tales, myths, legends and even parables, it went under one name: Avalon._

_This dimension, this Avalon, was said to belong to the living. That is, living beings that had transcended beyond the boundaries of life itself; proven worthy of embracing immortality through choice; became one with the foundations of the planet through special, indestructible bonds._

_These qualifications only applied to the gods. The aeons. Forces of life which nurtured and blessed the land under the hand of a single man, a summoner. Through his and the aeons' roles, the planet's waters calmed, the air was cleansed, the ground solidified, and flora and fauna came into existence. Man came, made in the image of the summoner, and they were to transform the land using the essence of magic. The aeons and the summoner took watch from Avalon then, waiting for the day when man would exceed in the arts of magic. For the day when they would become even stronger than them. With that day, and only that day, they would hand down the secrets to the creation of a new world. One even stronger than this planet, this Spira._

_But that day never came._

_When the idea of civilisation came to man, wars were had, diseases ran rampant, supplies had run thin in lesser areas and ordinary weather now brought disaster. Conflicting ideas and ambitions brought diversity to the table, the result being different races with different lifestyles. Soon very few cared for what they were created for, and they were content with looming on a now-broken world. The aeons and the summoner were stricken with grief for man's growing weakness, and they vanished._

_While man worships the aeons and the summoner today, they wonder where it all went wrong. Perhaps the planet's magic was too weak. Perhaps they were simply not made to live on magic. Or maybe perhaps the staves they crafted could not harness enough of the magic's power. While they tried to regain the knowledge that spanned over thousands of years, even training new summoners, they then remembered. It was much simpler than that._

_The downfall of Spira wasn't the cause of weak magic, forgotten magic or even magic at all._

_It was with the creation of an alternative: machinery._

* * *

"Avalon," Geosgaeno scoffed, the blinding blue light bounding off to another part of the wall. The muffled wrath of a hurricane resounded through the room as the ancient book slanted off of the table. "What a load of old crock."

The book was caught by Tidus' strong hands. The young man only seemed to roll his oceanic blue eyes as dust got all over his yellow and black attire. Carefully he made his way over to one of the many bookcases, quickly sliding open the sheet of metal and shoving the heavy records into the space. He barely got it in in time before the powerful currents made the whole room shift.

"Not a big fan of these myths and legends, are ya?" he called to the blue light. It was flitting about the walls in a fit of disgust.

"I don't hate them for being ridiculous; I'd be laughing at them if I did," Geosgaeno seethed. His rough and metallic voice couldn't startle Tidus at all, even though he was right underneath a speaker. "It's because I'm offended. All these filthy blots of ink just spread lies about us; 'Our mighty magic' this, 'Al Bhed and machina are demon spawn' that! You know what it is: it's thinly-veiled pandering to that cult they call Yevon! Sacks of saggy ol' flesh and lectures - if I had a better body…"

Tidus walked in silence back to the sitting area, channelling out another rant that his friend had gone off on. Geosgaeno was, as he often bragged, not an ordinary humanoid with pairs of bones and muscle. In spirit, he was a clump of wires and chips that powered the ship Tidus called his home. His body was the ship itself: a tons-heavy sailboat that appeared small and flashy above the water, but underneath sported a messy complex of rooms, pipes, anchors and Yevon knows what sort of strange, esoteric machinery, all on its tail end. Because of this, Tidus liked to call his ship the S.S. Iceberg, but recently stopped due to the complaints of Geosgaeno's sensitive ego.

"…then I'd rain down on them with brimstone! Flaming, scorching, gunpowder-brimmed brimstone! Those deaf ears of theirs will never hear the flames, screams and death of the whole place as their _stupid_ temple of theirs flops onto the ground! 'Machina is Spira's downfall,' they say. They should really put their putrid warty faces to the mirror!" his voice wobbled and hesitated throughout, but his passionate malice towards Yevon's officials still remained under his poorly-constructed message. Settling down, the blue light ceased its movements and disappeared from the room for a brief second. "Anyway… we're not actually going into that place, are we?"

Tidus could only offer a pitiful smile; the irony was hysterical. "You and Auron are just hanging back until I finish my business, then we'll never have to come here again."

As if on cue, a middle-aged man wearing a large red trenchcoat had steadily descended the stairs. He came to stand beside Tidus' lounging form, peering at him with his singular functional eye.

"You should be getting ready. We are drawing near."

He blinked and muttered a thanks as he watched his other friend walk towards his bedroom in an almost curtly manner, not speaking another word. He reached down under the table and pulled out his dark blue duffel bag, double-checking to see if he had all his utilities. He quickly made his way out onto the rain-drenched deck, grabbing his coat and his large crystallised sword as he did so.

The flexible flaps stung against his wet lower legs as he observed what little he could see of St. Bevelle. The circular garden of trees whipped around as their branches were torn off, flying into either the streets or the odious crashing of the waves just below them. The city itself was as pitch black and invisible as the storm clouds themselves, save for numerous dim and struggling orange lights. The towering temple itself was partially engulfed in the black mist, both at its base and its peak. The unnatural blue lightning that flashed and crackled around it gave it a grandiose yet absolutely ominous appearance. Chills shot down Tidus' spine, and not from the cold.

He prayed to nothing in particular that no Yevonite guards, mages or anything that would be a threat to him would see the tossing of his ship upon the animalistic waters. He had been lucky to see that the borderline guards had abandoned their posts at the coming of the freak storm (or so he had hoped), but now that he was technically invading their territory, he would most certainly have to endure a cruel punishment in the event of his capturing.

Maybe more than he could handle, due to his possession of a machina ship.

He leaned against the wall of the cabin and tried to steady his breathing. Once the ship disappeared behind the vegetation he leapt for the shore. Geosgaeno threatened to leave if he didn't come back in an hour, which didn't help to calm his mood. For what felt like several hours he trudged through the sludgy outskirts of Bevelle, trying not to step into any puddles deeper than his ankles. The downpour of rain that snaked from every gap in the low-hanging willows soaked his figure and forced him to endure an excruciating irritancy in his eyes. At long last he made the final stretch to the layer of rocky outcrop, finding a small solace from the storm in the nooks of the cliffs.

Making sure he was in the right place, he pulled out a scroll which consisted of a set of vague instructions and an illustration of a stone surrounded by jagged stalagmites. The door had a strange carving on it, one that stumped all the previous owners of the scroll. Following the directions he sidled his way further across the cliff and jumped down a steep opening in a landslide. He found himself in a corroded cave, the furious tide lapping at his feet as droplets leaked in from the cracks in the walls. Towers of spiked rocks surrounded the carving in front of him, which was glowing gold.

He drew closer to the carving and studied it. To him it appeared to be a helmet of some kind. Slowly he reached out for it, and then quickly drew it back at the slightly painful reaction. Thankfully he was wearing gloves. When nothing happened after a moment, he began digging through his bag for a bottle of magic dispel. His face almost slammed into the murky water as the ground began to shake. He immediately got up and saw that the stone had disappeared to reveal a passageway.

He almost burst out laughing. "That was easy."

His amusement quickly turned into unease however, as he had soon found himself navigating a labyrinth of echoing chambers, tunnels and roaring rivers that ran underneath chasms. The only light sources had been from the weakened flashes of lightning and the beautiful yet mysterious gems dotted around the walls. Soon he began to hear other noises: chimes, creaking, clanging and even voices at one point. He thought that he was either succumbing to the hopeless atmosphere or that the place was haunted by spirits. Or worse… he was being hunted down.

He tried to keep his senses intact; there was no chance of him getting through this place with a mindset like that. After some more aimless wandering and what seemed to be like running around in circles, he came upon an unfamiliar sight: a circular room covered in mossy marble and a strange pedestal in the middle of it lay just before him. Slowly he approached it, being partially blinded by the floating orbs of light as he did so. He climbed up the tiny flight of stairs, baffled by the weird assortment of bricks, statues, glass and rings of metal before looking down at the miniscule white case in front of him.

Inside it was… the tiniest ovular mirror he had ever seen. It was coated in a vibrant aquamarine and platinum, with near-invisible symbols embedded into the handle. He could see the mixture of intrigue and slight disappointment in his expression as it reflected back onto him. Sighing he placed it into one of the pouches on his belt, once again getting distracted by the sights around him.

He was nearly startled off of the pedestal by the blaring of static in his left ear. He quickly raised his hand to it and adjusted the signal.

"_Tidus! What the hell were you doing!? I've been trying to get to you for ages!" _Geosgaeno showed no mercy in yelling to his absent master. "_All these dead fiend corpses just swarmed around me, and now I'm hearing and seeing screaming and fiends all over the city!"_

"What?" was all Tidus, the exhausted yet alarmed adventurer, could utter.

"_Oh yeah, and now Auron's ran off to deal with them! You two better get your asses back here or I'll seriously bail on my own. Yevonites're gonna be down here hiding!"_

He sprinted up to the labyrinth again, the signal cutting out once the rocks closed around him. He was scared not for the possibility of being seen, unlike his cowardly friend, but for Auron and the civilians themselves. No longer were they Yevonites, but victims. Prey. And all along, he had been caught up in his selfish and illegal excavation of a forgotten part of Bevelle. The revelation coming to him after seizing that mirror would have been all too symbolic.

Lost within his musings, he briefly forgot what the upcoming danger was and carelessly careened into the depths of the stream. Despite his swimming abilities, the currents proved too strong for him and he was washed away, letting them take him where they could while trying his hardest not to drown.

He was washed up somewhere within the marsh, drenched from head to toe and bleeding in a few areas. Dizziness clouded his mind as he slowly stood up. An ear-piercing scream snapped him out of it as he followed its direction.

Above the trees stood the most surreal yet gruesome two-legged fiend he had ever seen. It was about three times his size, had menacing pincers and dozens of scythe-like fins on its shoulders. It was black, purple and blue in colour, and appeared to be looking down hungrily upon an obscured woman in its claws. Tidus snuck behind one of the trees. He could hear the fiend's horrible 'click-clacking' even through the storm's onslaught.

He broke off a branch from the tree to get the fiend's attention. The sound directed its attention away from its meal. Before it could react, one of its stick-like legs had been severed by the swipe of a blade. It partially toppled to the ground, though it clung on tightly to the woman still.

It hastily twisted its worm-like body in all directions to get a good look at its attacker, but by that time he was already on its back, hacking and slashing at the translucent membrane and drawing its foul contents. He felt dominant and triumphant over the fiend's state… until its leg suddenly regenerated.

It jumped into the air and swung its boneless legs over its back, knocking Tidus off of it and into the mud. It was angered. It disposed of its meal by throwing her at him. He managed to catch and keep hold of her despite the force of the impact. Quickly he laid her down underneath the trees and stood to confront the beast.

It lunged for him with its thick muscly pincers, which he easily dodged. Hatching up a plan, he managed to climb onto its back again. This time it planted both of its claws into the ground and swung both of its legs around in an arc in an attempt to hit him. This was what he had planned. Instead of attacking back he managed to grab both of them as they neared him and, after a bit of trouble, managed to cram them both into the laceration which he had inflicted on its body. As expected, the slimy membrane healed itself and trapped both of its legs inside its own body. The fiend cried out in agony.

With its ability to stand up now lost, Tidus set off to do the same with its arms. He made a cut in its side and forced its arm through the skin until it healed up. He did the same to the other arm, being mindful of the flailing pincers. Now that it was completely defenceless… he didn't know what to do next.

It was then he noticed somebody climbing onto its back. He was carrying a large metal beam on his shoulder. After narrowing his eyes, he recognised the red trenchcoat.

Auron had simply implanted the beam into the fiend's large head, and then quickly made his way off. Moments passed… and then bolts of blue lightning struck the makeshift conductor, burning the fiend to a crisp. Its reactions slowly stopped the more it had been violated by the reckless energy, finally lying lifeless after several shocks.

The older man didn't look phased in the slightest upon reaching the younger one. "I hope you didn't mind me using a part of your ship."

Tidus just laughed in total awe of what he just saw. The lightning was still laying waste to the corpse behind them. "I guess that's one way to kill a fiend."

But this wasn't the time for jokes. Tidus crouched down and looked worriedly at the woman in front of him. She was barely conscious and was staring back at him. The lightning got him a good look of what she looked like: pale with shoulder-length brown hair, a rounded face and two different eye colours: blue and green. She was wearing what appeared to be blue and white traditional robes, and a long blue earring. He picked up his lightweight frame and continued to look at her, as if speaking to her with his eyes. She couldn't stay awake any longer and managed a tiny smile before she went limp.

Tidus shot a glance at Auron. He turned his back to him and told him that he would lead him back to the ship. Though Tidus was fully aware of the risks of carrying a citizen of Bevelle into his lair of forbidden machina, he really didn't care at the moment.

Though he planned to leave as soon as he'd arrived, though Geosgaeno would probably short-circuit himself at the sight, he forgot about all of that. Right now his plans were to see this innocent Yevonite through to health. She felt like his responsibility.


	2. Without Consent

**Chapter II**

* * *

The light of dawn shone through one of the windows and hit the singular bed, forcing the sleeping woman within it to awaken. She squinted and sat up as her eyes began to water. To her left she could see a tall male figure with his back turned to her, peering through the window at an island surrounded by storms; a place which had always intrigued her. The ruffling of blankets caught the young man's attention as he turned around to look at her. Upon realising what he was doing, he hastily pulled down the curtains to stop the light from getting in.

"Sorry, did that wake you?" Tidus asked with an awkward chuckle, stumbling over his mattress on the ground. "You can sleep more if you want. I won't bother you again."

"Oh no, it is perfectly fine," she assured him, putting on an almost unexpected formal tone. She could barely see anything in the sudden darkness. She got up from the bed and walked around, despite a little protest from the man and her slightly unstable legs. She appeared to be looking for something by herself before finally giving in. "Um… do you happen to have a light source by any chance? Please?"

He began to hesitate and get very nervous. There was no questioning what she would do if she saw the state of his bedroom. He almost couldn't believe that she wasn't suspicious of the comforting radiator in the corner, or even the alarm clock on the bedside table. Or for that matter, _anything _in the room that made sound. But he didn't want to decline and appear so incredibly rude towards her, especially with how sincere and gentle she—

Wait… where was she?

Just as he turned around, the curious Yevonite flicked a strange object on the wall. The object just so happened to be the light switch. She let out a long and quiet gasp as the ocean-themed room was illuminated before her eyes. All around, boxes, shelves and the little desk in the corner were loaded with all sorts of colourful souvenirs and extraordinary trinkets. Some of them were even moving and quirking and springing, all without any interaction. As she relished in the sights, her eyes twinkling with wonder, Tidus could feel his freezing blood run down to his feet.

"This… This is amazing!" her light voice had almost gone raspy from the air of excitement. Her fingertips tentatively glided around a music box that she had found. She let out a tiny, frightened squeak as it began to play a melody, but started laughing afterwards. Tidus would have grinned at her innocent joy had he not been so shocked by it. "I've never seen magic like this before."

"Well, I just happened to—" he immediately went silent upon registering her words. '_Hold on… Magic?'_

"It must have taken you a long time to make all of this," she uttered with a subtle awe, finally turning around to get a proper look at the young man. His overly boyish appearance caused something in her gut to spark. "Are you a powerful mage by any chance?"

He stammered and rubbed his head. His face flushed as her smiling face peered up at his. "I'm just a guy who saved you from that fiend."

The woman blinked. Over a period of time, her smile faded as her cheeks turned a stark shade of red. She took a step backwards, made a gesture and bowed deeply; a prayer belonging to Yevon. Afterwards she stood as straight as she can, smoothing out her robes and clasping her hands.

"Forgive me. I have not even introduced myself yet," she reverted back to the eerily formal tone she had used earlier. "I am Summoner Yuna of St. Bevelle. I cannot thank you enough for saving my life. In return, I hope my blessing will grant you great fortune for the rest of yours."

"Thanks," Tidus tried to laugh in order to ease the tension, but Yuna remained stern. Almost like a statue. "Name's Tidus. Nice to meet you."

She cast her gaze downwards for a second and sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, Tidus, this is where we must part ways as well. The fiend invasion I am sure has had a devastating effect on the city. I must make haste to the council mansion. I only hope that the maesters and my father are safe."

She stammered on her last words, and Tidus noticed the quaking fear in her eyes.

"I—if you would be so kind as to lead me to the entrance of your home, I would be very grateful."

He gave her a positive response and opened the door for her, leading her upstairs to the kitchen and dining room. Last night he had made sure to disable Geosgaeno's voice chip, as well as his autopilot and defence mechanisms, for obvious reasons. He wasn't looking forward to the moment when he had to switch them back on. He was predicting ruptured eardrums and broken bones.

He told her to take a seat for a moment as he piloted the ship to the muddy shoreline. Once there, Yuna made her way onto the deck. She looked to Tidus and back to the waterlogged ground. It was then he noticed that she was trembling, though certainly making an effort to hide it. She managed to put a foot forward onto the descending steps, though it looked like she was going to pull it away at any second.

"Goodbye, Tidus," she looked at him, managing an insecure smile. She had gone white as a sheet. "Thank you."

As he watched the young summoner very slowly descend the steps, an enormous bout of guilt tugged at his heartstrings. She was terrified. She was afraid that a surviving fiend was going to lunge at her at any second. He felt compelled to follow her to make sure that she would be safe. But that would mean going into Bevelle itself. It would be like jumping into a pit of angry fiends, now that he thought about it. Unless…

He looked back towards the cabin of his ship. The only proof that he was in possession of machina was all in the ship itself, and nobody apart from Yuna knew where it was. She didn't even recognise it as machina. His clothing may have 'outsider' written all over it, but nothing warranting a witch hunt. He had no excuse.

He wasn't going to let the woman he had just saved wander around in risk of danger. She was his responsibility, after all.

He scurried back into the cabin and lifted his sword from the counter, ripping off the wrapping on it. He hurried back outside. Yuna was nearly at the bottom of the steps.

"Wait!" he called after her. He jumped off from the railings and landed beside her. She recoiled a little as the mud splashed over her robe. "I'll go with you."

She saw the sword glistening in the sun's light. She laughed as she felt her pulse beginning to slow. "How many times must I thank you, Tidus?"

"I'm just doing the right thing," he simply said, relieved by her easing. It was then he noticed an unmistakable red trenchcoat silently making his way down to them.

"I'll go too."

Tidus stared up at Auron as he boldly made his way towards the marsh. He had mentioned last night that he knew who Yuna was, but hadn't elaborated on anything after that. Now he wanted to go to Bevelle? If there was anything the man knew how to do apart from making him ask questions… it was making him want to find answers.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I did not see you," Yuna said with uncertainty towards the mysterious man. "May I have your name?"

"My name is not important for now," he answered back, simply walking further into the marsh afterwards. They trailed after him.

"He's always like this, Yuna. I'll stay close to you, all right? You'll be fine," Tidus reassured her. She gave him a kind gaze and went on further ahead. He watched her as she positioned herself just behind Auron, being mindful of her surroundings. He was overcome with a sensation of loyalty as he firmly held his aquatic blade. Any fiend that would take a wrong step would be slaughtered. Nothing would come between him and Yuna. He wouldn't be able to live it down otherwise.

* * *

Fortunately no fiend had intercepted their path. Not even the corpse of one. It turned out that the fiend that Tidus and Auron had slain had vanished into thin air. Yuna simply thought that its pyreflies, the life source of every being on the planet, had just dispersed. Tidus had no choice but to accept her reasoning; it wasn't like he knew anything about the subject.

They arrived at the city's gates. The gleaming white arches had been stained crimson and black with the blood of humans and fiends. Two heavily armoured guards stood adjacent to each other. One looked sullen, yet maintained his stoic stance. The other looked like he was about to faint. Upon noticing the group of three, they nearly dropped their needle-sharp spears.

"Lady Yuna! You're alive!" the weary guard exclaimed. Upon bowing down to her, he took notice of another pair of boots. He slowly rose to meet Auron's scarred face. He felt like his legs turned into lead as he broke out into a cold sweat. "It can't be…"

"Who's this kid?" meanwhile, the other guard had seized Tidus by his bare shoulder. He could just about pick out his soulless black eyes from his chiselled features. "Doesn't look like he's from around here."

He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Ah! This is Tidus. He's the man who saved my life," Yuna quickly explained to the merciless guard, not wanting harm to come to him. "Please allow him access into Bevelle, as well as this other man."

He merely harrumphed and swung open one part of the gate. Yuna performed her repetitive gesture and lead her two guests into the city. Once they were though the gate, the guard slammed it shut again and leaned against the wall. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his inexperienced partner stumbling over to him.

"That… That man with the red coat," his voice went nasally and hoarse as he stuck his arm in the direction of the gate. "Did you recognise him?"

"Don't care," he snuffed at the pitiful boy in front of him. After trying and failing to coax him to talk, the younger guard slumped his shoulders and slugged back to his spot.

* * *

Every street, corner and avenue of Bevelle had been weighed down by an atmosphere of doom and gloom. Almost everywhere they looked the group of three could see senders guiding the souls of the deceased to the afterlife. Children, parents and widows all wept for the loss of their loved ones.

Tidus felt a weakness growing from deep inside him. He was reminded of his life at home: how his mother always used to cry for the father he never knew, and the recent death of his brother. He often thought of returning to Besaid Island to visit his poor mother, but his current job kept him too busy to follow up on that wish.

By midday they had arrived at the council mansion. It was five stories high, its walls painted beige with a mahogany framework around them. The courtyard had several fountains in it, as well as a graveyard, a couple of chocobo stables and a beautiful garden brimming with exotic plants. The entire area was protected by a magical force-field. Yuna tore a rift in it using her magic and guided the two men through. Without warning she ran as fast as she could towards the large double doors. Tidus called after her with matching speed while Auron continued to walk at his normal brisk pace.

Yuna burst through the door into her part of the mansion, nearly out of breath. Tidus followed up shortly afterwards. She began to call out for her father, checking nearly every part of the small yet comfy apartment. Another figure emerged from one of the doors.

Tidus nearly developed the urge to come to Yuna's defence. What stood in front of him was, hands down, the creepiest-looking human being he had ever seen in his life. He wasn't even sure if he _was_ human: he had frizzy blue hair with what appeared to be horns sticking out from the sides; a pale angular face with bruise-coloured veins bulging out of it; a deformed abdomen sticking out from his purple robes and long, stick-like claws with disgusting fingernails of all different lengths.

The _thing_ continued to stare down at Tidus, even as Yuna was calling his name: Maester Seymour Guado. When he couldn't put up with their little staring contest any more, Seymour continued to observe him for a little while longer. Eventually he cranked his head away and came to stand in front of Yuna, completely dismissing what he just did.

"Lord Braska has been injured by one of the fiends. The same one you were chased by," his voice was soft and silky, but also tinted with falseness. "He is in his bed. The maesters will be here soon."

They could hear a whooping cough from within the other room. Yuna cried out as she rushed to her father's side, taking hold of his shaking hand. Tidus held a sorrowful frown as he witnessed the tragic sight in front of him. Unbeknownst to him, Seymour snuck another glance at the blond man, narrowing his eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" she sobbed, barely able to hold her gaze on the excruciating convulsions that her father was going through.

"It appears," a wheezing, wobbly voice intruded on them, followed by many other guards. "that Lord Braska has been infected with a sickness."

"It is good to see that you are at least okay, Grandmaester Mika," Seymour greeted the balding white-haired man. His face was covered in black warts and sunken wrinkles. "Oh, and Maester Kinoc as well. What a surprise... it appears that you have a visitor."

The chubby man in orange robes patted Auron on the back, sending him forward with a weak force. "Fresh from the hook."

"Of course, the legendary Sir Auron," murmurs rose from the crowd as Seymour spoke softly. "Former guardian of Lord Braska, slayer of a thousand fiends… traitor of Yevon. Take him away."

"The pleasure is mine!" Kinoc tried to seize control of Auron's movements, but he just let himself be guided away by his guards. Both Tidus and Yuna cried out for him, but only Tidus made an effort to try and get to him. Blinded by his disbelief and his desire to get his friend back, Seymour had taken the chance to grab him by the shoulder.

"I too have a visitor," the smug maester displayed a feral grin, shaking the shorter figure back and forth. He could feel his jagged fingernails jabbing his skin. "He has a weapon. Take him away too."

"No, please! Wait!" a meek feminine voice called out from the growing ruckus. "Seymour, if it were not for Tidus I wouldn't be alive right now! Will you please reconsider?"

Seymour was about to give an instant response, most likely one of declination, but Mika approached them with as much speed as he could muster. He hunched over as he looked up at the outsider in front of him.

"Unbelievable. I cannot say where this young man came from, but for him to protect a summoner whom he had never met, and in the face of such danger… This must be an omen! A sign from Yu Yevon himself!"

Everybody in the room stared at the superstitious maester with inquisition.

"Look at him, Maester Seymour. His able body, his constant stubbornness, even his accompaniment to our mansion today… He would make a perfect guardian for the little Lady Yuna, would you agree?"

Tidus halted his struggling to break free from Seymour's grasp and just stood there, body set in stone. He swore that his life flashed before his eyes. He slowly turned around to look at the summoner. She too was looking at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

"I keep telling you: Lady Yuna does _not _need a guardian," Seymour retorted, glaring at Mika with both annoyance and confusion.

"Nonsense! This is the time where Lady Yuna needs one more than ever! With her father the way he is now, and how our defences are currently breached, we cannot let a council Yevonite fall because of our foolishness. Especially not a summoner!"

Mika's old age caught up to him as his lungs began to suffer from his passionate speech. Seymour turned his nose up and released Tidus with a slight push.

"It's your choice," he sighed. The guards in front of the door made a formation to let him pass. When he reached the doorframe he muttered a farewell to Yuna before slithering out of the apartment.

"Well, my boy," Mika clasped his hands behind his back as his bony face looked up to Tidus' defeated one. "You must have a great fortune upon you. I do not know who gave you this fortune, but I will assure you as Grandmaester that having the responsibility of a council guardian is a pinnacle of many dreams, but not many achievements. You will be given a living space within this mansion, to the left of this apartment. Please take your time gathering your belongings from your other home, but do not try to hide from us!"

He said the last sentence with a mischievous giggle. With that, the feeble grandmaester offered Braska a gesture of prayer and left the apartment, along with the rest of the guards.

Tidus refused to believe his ears. He didn't even have a choice in the matter! He felt like his willpower and his muscles were sapped of all strength. He turned around to Yuna again. She was still crouched down by Braska's bedside, but her comforting actions seemed to be delayed and her expression was void of any real attention. She was trying to keep her frequent glances at him subtle. Did she want him as her guardian as well?

He gave them both the best smile he could conjure up, and left the mansion without trying to disturb anyone. As he walked down the silent streets and towards the outskirts, he rooted his eyes on the boundless ocean in front of him. He wasn't sure what to think of all of this. He wasn't sure at all.

* * *

As expected, Geosgaeno wasn't all that happy with Tidus once he got his rights back. It descended into worse territories once his master broke the news about Auron's arrest and his roping into a job to keep watch over the Yevonite he had just saved. All it led to was partially broken decorations and hindrance as Tidus tried his best to collect his personal stuff despite intentionally being flung against the walls.

"The sea is _right there— _In fact, you're just above it! What's stopping us from just breaking this joint before anything else goes wrong!?"

"They chose me, Geos. They'd chase me down if they found out I'd gone away," he retaliated, shoving all of his basic needs up the last set of stairs. Afterwards he leaned against the kitchen counter and began to ponder. "I'm also gonna see if I can get the old man out of whatever he's in. I don't think it'll be too bad if I'm just going to be around Yuna."

"Uh-huh," the synthetic voice repeated, gradually getting louder and angrier. "You know what, Tidus? You really are pathetic. You know whose fault this is? Yours and that indoctrinated Yevonite you brought back! You're only wanting to stay in that regally-painted prison because you're gonna be around what just so happens to be a pretty girl your age. I bet if she was one of those bonesack-bodied preaching geezers you wouldn't think twice of escaping!"

Tidus couldn't think of a comeback to match his malice. He wouldn't admit it, but there was some truth to what Geosgaeno just said. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be kind towards someone and receive genteelness in return. His point was made clearer by the ship's harsh words; he really could be ruthless with what he said once he got past his cowardice for anything that would threaten him. It was then he realised: he was looking forward to getting away from the ship for just a little while. He was unsure and a little bit worried of what this meant. Before this, he had never thought of leaving his nomadic lifestyle on the seas ever since he found the ship's wreckage a couple of years ago.

"I don't think it'll be that bad," he resorted to saying, walking out onto the deck. "Almost all the maesters trust me. If I just act like a guardian and don't let them on about the machina then they won't suspect anything. Maybe I'll enjoy it. It's honestly a nice city."

"Passive. Always so weak-minded and passive," Geosgaeno spat. A tinge of hurt could be detected in his low tone. "You know what? Just go. What's to stop me leaving and finding another master? I always knew you were a closet Yevonite."

"Geos, c'mon," he tried to break through to him, but he just tilted the ship and let Tidus roll off onto the shoreline. Afterwards the auxiliary engines rumbled as he sped off into another part of the marsh. He could hear his earpiece's signal cutting out.

He shook his head as he picked up his sword and duffel bag, as well as his other cases. Turning his back to the ocean, he started the long voyage back to St. Bevelle: where no non-Yevonite ever dared to go.


	3. Getting To Know You

**Chapter III**

* * *

Even during the sickly aftermath of war, Bevelle still managed to shine like a thousand platinum suns. It was almost otherworldly, with many of the white and scarlet buildings almost touching the clouds; the multiple well-tended menageries sheltering every kind of rare and exotic animal and the roads and walls hand-painted with patterns, symbols and beautiful writing. Combined they looked like hieroglyphics. Tidus had to physically strain himself not to wander off to every corner of the utopia. It was practically begging to have its secrets unravelled.

It was afternoon when Tidus got back to the mansion. Along the way he had quickly washed out his clothes and skin in one of the many watering holes scattered around the city; he was still too cautious to risk a nasty look from the many fancily-robed, high-class citizens. Most of them were lean as sticks compared to him, but judging by the staves many of them held he noted that they probably made up for it in other ways.

In walking down the second floor corridor he could Yuna's quiet weeping. Her apartment door had been left open. From the angle he was at he could see Braska's unconscious state in his bed, as well as Yuna standing up to leave. The sight reminded him of how his mother used to wallow on her unaccompanied double bed. The young summoner caught his eyes with her sad ones. He offered her a small consoling smile before continuing to the room next door.

It didn't take long for him to unpack everything. After his minimal efforts he took off his boots and flopped onto the top of his bed, scanning his surroundings. It was definitely enough to suffice; there was a lounge and fireplace to his left and a kitchen area adjacent to it. Straight in front of him were two doors. They led to, as he found out, the bathroom and his own combat training arena. Overall they were nicely decorated and supplied, but the only things he didn't like were the constant religious imagery and the lack of free space compared to his ship.

His ship. Tidus sighed and shifted his back towards the pillows. How long would he be staying here? Was Geosgaeno really thinking of abandoning him here? He mentally slapped himself for realising that he shouldn't have pretty much given him permission to waltz around Bevelle's perimeters. Maybe he wasn't even near Bevelle any more. Tidus made a reminder to check on him later.

Following that, he was starting to wonder why he had blatantly chosen to go to Bevelle in the first place. He couldn't pin the fault on anybody but himself. He reached over to his duffel bag and pulled out the mirror he had acquired last night. His heavy expression reflected back onto him. He had caused this to himself and Auron as well. Why did he have to be so rash and selfish? He knew that going near the city was a bad idea from the start… so why did he do it?

"Curiosity," he muttered. All senses of danger dissipated in the face of his curiosity. Everything from claiming that map, to going to Bevelle as fast he could despite the weather, to following Yuna's screams…

A weak knock on the entrance caught his attention. He tossed the mirror towards the end of the bed and jumped in front of the door. He swallowed a lump in his throat and extended a shaking hand to the handle. Relief washed over him as his guest turned out to be Yuna. Who else did he expect?

"Hello, Tidus," she looked up at her new guardian. Her shoulders were slightly slumped and her hands were clasped in front of her. "May I come in? I… I just wanted to get to know you, since…"

"Sure thing," he said eagerly. He quickly hid the mirror in the bag and allowed Yuna to be seated on the edge of the bed, closing the door. As he leaned against the wall, her taut movements and the shadows on her face told him everything. Acquainting with each other wasn't the only reason she came to him. "How's your dad?"

She shook her head. Her cheeks were beginning to turn red from heartbreak. "Father's gone pale and he's coughing a lot more. A White Mage came to me earlier… she said that they might have to take him abroad to a private hospital."

The weary look on her face said it all. Whatever disease those fiends had, it definitely wasn't going to be easy to cure; Braska's suffering would last a very long time. His face went soft as he scuffled closer to her. "You know, Yuna, if there's anything I can do for you, I will."

Her lips curved upwards as light began to flourish in her eyes. "N-no, it's fine. You already have so many troubles."

"You said you wanted to know who I am, right?"

Yuna paused for a second before nodding, looking over Tidus' every detail, from his casual and slightly tattered attire to, much to her lack of shame, the confidence and strength beaming from his face.

"Actually, I'm from Besaid. All the way to the south from here," seeing as he was close to the bedside table, he slung his near-empty bag over his shoulder and tried to strike a powerful pose. All it did was cause the young summoner to laugh. "Don't tell anyone, but… I'm a freelancer of the seas. Or just a Seeker, really."

Her giggles died down immediately. Her eyes widened as she stood abruptly. "A Seeker!?"

'_Oh great, I offended her! I'm so dead,' _the thoughts pulsed through his mind as his bronze skin began to lose its colour. He braced himself by clamping his eyes shut. Miraculously, she didn't hit him or call for the pillory guards. Instead, as he slowly opened his eyes again, Yuna was staring at him with a look of longing and awe.

"Sorry," she bowed quickly, lowering her voice significantly. "It's just that… my father was once a Seeker before he became a Lord. He always used to tell me lots of great stories about his expeditions. I've never actually met one before, but I always wanted to."

"Did he tell you that being one is a big massive doozy?" he meant it as a joke, but he still grimaced at the thought of a sparkling, unknown, decades-old record sphere or artefact being snatched away from him by a curator, all for some measly gil.

"He did tell me that the retirement age averaged at thirty-two," they both snickered. Tidus said it was probably lower now. A realisation formed in her head: "So did you come to Bevelle because of your profession? Did you find anything?"

He wouldn't dare tell anyone else in Bevelle about his discovery, but Yuna was beginning to gain his trust very quickly. He could very much empathise with her humble cheerfulness and her craving for knowledge. He sat down next to her and pulled out the only two objects that were in his bag: the scroll and the mirror. She pursed her lips as he unravelled the starchy parchment.

"See, some time ago this map kept on getting passed around my Seeker outlet. See there? 'On the cliffs of Bevelle'. That was enough to rule out more than half the people who wanted to follow it. The few that did? Came back totally confused and lost by this symbol here. Finally I decided to go. I managed to get this mirror thing out of it, and after that I… met you."

Now that he was studying the mirror once again, he pointed out the faded symbols etched into the handle. A fragment of his memory lit up as his eyes scrolled over their outlines. He saw this writing style before. It was on the edge of his mind, torturing him, taunting him… but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't recall where he last saw it.

Yuna theorised that it might be a discontinued Yevon script. As she said this, she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She quickly covered up the falling of her facial features and peered up at her appointed guardian.

"Can you tell me about more of your adventures, Tidus? I'd very much like to know."

He was unsure whether or not to practically retell most of his embarrassing mishaps and missions to her, but with her sweet smile and how much they were opening up to each other, negative responses were beginning to disappear from his vocabulary.

They lost track of time as they commented and laughed with each other's tales. There was never a dull moment, and they truly felt like they had become good friends with just how naturally they played off of each other. However, a certain maester with wild blue hair and bellowing robes had accidentally overheard them while searching for the young summoner. Thinking he had heard all he needed, he stopped his eavesdropping and went back to his chambers, letting the two have their fun for now.

* * *

Murky sewage leaked from the horribly constructed stone walls. Droplets echoed all throughout the tunnel as the smell of rotting corpses hung in the air. The ground was obscured by a thick mist and icicles loomed over the boxed cells. Ungraceful footsteps and the snagging of Yevonite fabric gave away the presence of a middle-aged man. He clicked his tongue within his cheeks as he held his nose over the desperate and starving prisoners, before catching sight of a man in a red trenchcoat. He hurried the rest of the distance over to him. He was sitting on a stool, hunched over with a jug of sake in his fist.

"Good to see you, my old friend," he greeted him loudly, his croaky yet deep voice bouncing down the rest of the tunnel. "I was wondering where the guards left you."

"Same to you, Kinoc," Auron said with his gruff voice. "You must be enjoying your duties as a maester. I can't imagine all the advantages you have."

"Ah… yes, well," Kinoc stammered, rubbing his damp bald head. "you never really wanted to know them. Come to think of it, you never told me why you gave your position to me."

"I wanted nothing to do with the system back then."

The maester began to rub his head again, but now with more vigour. He let an awkward, fake chuckle escape his throat. He turned his back to him and fell into a walk without rhythm or authenticity.

"However, I have changed my mind."

Kinoc slowly turned back to him, letting out a good-natured sigh and shaking his head. He paced over to him again. "Your habit for being fickle hasn't changed, I see."

He only nodded his head. His legs struggled as he got up from the wonky wooden stool. "If there are any openings for maester positions, I would appreciate a head-start with your vote."

"Actually, Auron…" he pulled at his robes as his head tilted in all directions. "You have my permission to take my place."

Auron shot him a questioning look. His sunglasses fell slightly as his face contorted. The maester then threw a small sphere and his orange robes to him, both of which he caught with his good arm. Kinoc took off suddenly, wet footsteps filling the tunnel.

"Kinoc. Stop," he requested of him with his monotone voice, but he didn't bother to look back this time as he vanished up the stairs.

He looked down at the small yellow sphere and inserted it into the lock of the cell door. It sent signals through the floor, and then the door swung open. He harrumphed, set the robes over his shoulder and set off towards the stairs at his own sluggish pace, wanting answers for his old friend's acts.

* * *

"Maester Seymour," Kinoc strutted into his master's chambers without knocking, piquing him. He hid his disdain and turned around to greet him from his desk, but was caught off guard by the unfamiliar sight of white undergarments and a suitcase in his left hand.

"Why, Maester Kinoc! Where are your robes?" Seymour feigned distress, giving his old friend a look of vile disapproval underneath.

"Exactly, Maester Seymour, Sir. I've appointed Auron in my stead. Now that he's back, and everything is that it needs to be, I'm retiring!" he gave him the biggest smile he could muster, but the lack of dimples gave him away.

"Oh, but… Kinoc," Seymour softened his tone to a whisper, coming closer to tower over his much shorter friend. "Haven't you forgotten about our plans for Bevelle? Or our… other plans, for that matter?"

"Absolutely not, Mae—uh, Seymour," his false smile began to falter as the rays of hope became dimmer. "I believe that the revolution is a great idea, and I have no doubt that you will accomplish your aims! It's just… I'm getting old, and… you… haven't really made a start yet?"

"Plans like the revolution take time to set up, Kinoc. There are still many other factors that I must even out, especially after last night," Seymour explained.

"But Seymour—"

"_And_ a certain amount of those factors are disclosed; only to be measured, read and known by myself," he leaned over Kinoc, looking him square in the eye with a knowing glare. "Are you really sure you want to leave?"

"…Yes," he whimpered, sweat beading from his temples.

Kinoc's lips quivered as his palms went moist. To his astonishment, Seymour backed away from him and cracked a small yet sad smile. It was the first time he had ever seen Seymour's icy blue eyes devoid of any sinister intentions.

"Well, Kinoc," he started. He still maintained his smile. "what sort of a person would I be if I didn't allow someone his rights?"

"Ah! Well, he'd… he'd be a psychopath, that's for sure. Not unlike you, Seymour!" not even Kinoc's obnoxious laughing upset the uncharacteristically warm maester. "So… I'm really allowed to go?"

"I would be lying if I said that you didn't have a good run. Farewell, my friend. I will organise a retirement party in your memory."

Kinoc was still laughing as he bowed repeatedly to the maester's ever unchanging aura. He yelled numerous formal goodbyes to him, tears of joy streaming down his face as he bounded for the door.

"Kinoc."

Something in his stomach dwindled as he turned back to his old master. Seymour's impression appeared to be indecipherable, but he only smiled again as he reached out a singular arm.

"Goodbye hug."

The ex-maester slapped his head in amusement. He dropped his suitcase on the floor and approached Seymour. He squeezed his upper torso within a big embrace. Seymour could hardly breathe as his clawed hand ghosted over his back. As Kinoc muttered how much he was going to miss his friend, he didn't see him pulling out a sharp object from the satchel under his robe.

"What a shame," the maester could barely hold the fondness in his voice any more as he readied himself. "And you were such a good companion…"

Kinoc's laughing got noisier as his arms began to get tired. When he tried to free himself, Seymour held him in place with his right hand. Within a second, he drew back his left hand, tightened his grip and punctured Kinoc's stomach.

The laughing stopped.


	4. The Journey Begins

**Chapter IV**

* * *

"…on that note, it is with my deepest disappointment that Kinoc has officially retired just the other day, and will be living the rest of his life in a paradise unknown. Please, raise your glasses to our former commander of Bevelle's judiciary system. His fifteen year run is truly one to behold."

The council authorities cheered in unison. Minute amounts of wine spilled onto the large meeting table and the baskets of fruit. Mika paused for a second to unclog his throat before continuing.

"As you may all know, Sir Auron has also returned to our kingdom after a lengthy hiatus. He will be reclaiming Kinoc's position. Send him your best wishes and encouragements," he looked down upon the new maester from his podium. He was seated in the primarily orange armchair just to his left. "In other news, due to Lord Braska's most unfortunate circumstances in regards to his health, he has been transferred to a medical centre outside of Bevelle. As such, Maester Seymour will be mentoring Lady Yuna until her father has made a full recovery."

Upon hearing those words, Seymour eyed Yuna from his own blue armchair. The young summoner stared down at the table, her pupils darting everywhere as something in her chest began to wrench. Tidus was standing just behind her, growling to himself as the Guado's pale lips curled into a grin.

The meeting droned on for another couple of hours. Tidus and Yuna couldn't have been happier to finally leave the dark and stuffy conference room.

The sun was beginning to descend as they headed off to the marketplace, the guardian keeping watch over his summoner as she made her daily rounds. Over the days, Tidus had quickly grown accustomed to the excited chattering of the shoppers and the rumbling of the carts. They gave him a sense of nostalgia, plus it was rather fun to see what stalls and entertainment Yuna was interested in. She especially enjoyed collecting geographical maps and famous ships in bottles. He couldn't help but admire her dedication, and would even try to negotiate a deal when the shopkeepers were being just a little too greedy.

In the end, all they wanted to do was relax their legs. They sat on the clay walls underneath the plaza's tree, since all the other benches and outdoor tables were taken. The upper class peoples of Bevelle rarely sat here; the city being situated near Spira and the northern lands' storm belt meant that heavy downpours were frequent, turning the soil into slush. The two of them didn't seem to mind however, and that was when Tidus decided to be cheeky and splashed her with the mud behind their backs. It grew into a mudslinging fight. They began to erupt into giggles, and the citizens nearby gave them disturbed looks.

They reluctantly stopped due to fear of complaints. As time passed, the soft breeze ruffling the foliage above them, Tidus directed his attention towards the populace. Apart from the ordinary mages and students, who wore little more than robes and jewellery, he noted in fewer numbers the cloaks, sashes, flowing colours and the dignified walk cycles of what he guessed were the summoners. They all had two or more heavily-armoured musclemen obeying their every move; by those attitudes he was confident that they were the guardians. They were all much older, much more experienced and more… heartless. As if following a set routine and never thinking to stray away from it.

He turned to look towards Yuna, who was still sitting in the same place. Once again he thought back to how long he would be staying as her guardian. Would they grow up to be like the examples: jaded, uncaring and sick of each other? His heart felt like it would shatter into a thousand pieces if he kept lingering on it. Just talking and interacting with his new friend had him feeling more alive and happy than the numerous years he had spent on his job. He didn't want these memories and experiences to be tarnished in the same way as his being a Seeker. He had to learn from his mistakes.

He sat down by Yuna's side again, just keeping watch over her from the corner of his eye. She was staring out into space again; the same look she had when he thought that she was worrying. He rattled his head to try and figure out what she was thinking about. His eyes widened and he had to suppress himself from seething.

"Yuna," he lowered his voice, watching as she turned around to accidentally peer right into his soul. "I don't trust the guy either."

She exclaimed sharply. How had he known what she was thinking?

"Listen, I… I just want to make sure you're all right," he confessed, just about stopping his reflexes from making him rub his head. "I don't care if he's a maester; I just don't like him. Just keep watch, and if anything about him annoys you come get me."

Yuna checked to see if anyone was listening, and then cast her gaze downwards. "It is true that I'm a little worried about Maester Seymour taking my father's place, but I hold a respect for him. I've known him ever since I was little. Seymour has been around me just as much as my father, so if anything he is the most worthy of taking his place. I can hardly complain."

"Don't talk like that!" he raised his voice. She winced a little at how stout he sounded. She sensed him inching closer to her. "Look, you have the right to ask for help if you need it. If you're worried, you're worried! Nothing good'll come out of it if you hide it."

"But… the rest of the council always just tells me to…"

His face slackened as he held his gaze on her. He turned back to the south as his mind went dark. "Sounds like they don't care that much."

They sat for another while in silence, watching as the marketplace slowly emptied out as the sky turned a radiant pink. They stole glances at each other, but nothing more. They were lost in their own thoughts and concerns for each other.

Yuna tilted her head, staring up at her guardian. The council mansion lay just beyond the eastern high walls. '_He's the one who has been keeping me safe lately. Nobody else.' _Suddenly she felt a chill prickle her skin. It only got worse the longer her eyes took in her house. '_Maybe they realise it. After all these years…'_

"Tidus, can we stay out a little longer tonight?" she broke the awkward silence, her head ducked slightly as she peered up at him. "I want to make up for it after what we discussed… if that's okay."

He continued to look at her before smiling and jumping off of the wall. "Sure. Got any place in mind?"

She continued on to make gestures and exclamations over her indecisiveness. As Tidus patiently waited, he heard the sound of rustling. In the empty marketplace, the disturbance of leaves. The swaying of branches. Behind Yuna.

A clawed hand reached out from behind the tree trunk.

Tidus yelled out for her safety, causing her to scream. He dived for the predator, seized its arm and scrambled for his sword. It was only when he swung the blade in an arc that he realised who it was. He walked out in plain sight from behind the trunk, holding the blade with his other hand, his lips curling into a familiar grin.

"You used the blunt side," Seymour muttered, shoving Tidus back with great force. "Your inexperience has been beneficial for once."

"Not really," the guardian's words were so hushed not even the breeze could catch them.

"Maester Seymour! W—we were…"

"Planning to whisk away into the night with your new guardian? Again?" Seymour scoffed with a mocking sweetness to his voice. Shame and embarrassment overcame the summoner. "I remember when we did that once. You kept looking towards Bevelle for some reason."

Tidus stopped his growling for a moment to raise an eyebrow. Yuna and Seymour were an item at one point, it seemed. A very short-lived, lopsided item. He didn't know whether to be curious or mortified. His anger shot up to boiling point again.

"But nevertheless, no. You've done nothing productive today, so you do not deserve it," Yuna shrivelled up at the maester's demeaning choice of words. "Instead you're coming with me to the temple. We have a special errand to run, starting tomorrow, and there will be _no_ worming your way out of your duties this time, my Lady Summoner."

"Did you plan this in advance?" Tidus started. He was almost hissing on his words as he confronted Seymour with a glare to match the gods. "Did you talk this over with Yuna? With the maesters? Have you even worked out what to do in an emergency? When Yuna isn't aware of danger? Because it seemed like you didn't think that through just there."

Seymour slowly came over to him, his neck craned high as his icy vulture-like eyes blazed with judgement. "Are you accusing me of fool's lure?"

"Tidus, please don't—" but it was too late.

He slowly and firmly nodded his head. As soon as he did, he saw something. A small, fleeting something. He saw purple crossing Seymour's maniacal pupils. He could feel a wretch in his stomach as the warmth was forced out of him. He had an overwhelming urge to lie down on the wall underneath the tree.

"I'm afraid it's the law, Tidus. I've been charged with the responsibility of caring for Lady Yuna, and I'm trying my hardest to live up to those expectations," was Seymour's calm explanation. "She must do what I say, but in return I will try my best to protect her. Come, Yuna. He looks exhausted. I'm sure it's from all the guarding he's been doing."

Seymour twisted his back to them, setting off in a slow and orderly manner towards the temple, just beyond the marketplace. Yuna didn't follow. Instead she noticed Tidus' sudden change in health. Her face crumpled as he near-crawled onto the rough and hardened clay. His right arm fell limp into the soil.

"Seymour did this. I know it," he mumbled with malice. He began to see doubles and his throat turned bitter. A weight of sickness pulled at his chest as the breeze turned into frostbite. Seymour's gruelling image appeared in his mind's eye. His curled grin and terrible chuckles rung in his ears. "It's all his fault, Seymour. Should have known better than to listen to him. Horrible, claw-fingered sicko should be—"

Soft, delicate fingers touched his forehead. He opened his blackened eyes to see Yuna kneeling over him with a look of anguish. The same look she gave her father when she nursed his ever-decaying form. She whispered his name ever so quietly; she must have been traumatised at the state of his body. But when Tidus looked up into her two unique eyes, sparkling with tears and the want to comfort him… He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Like he had just been pulled out of darkness. The projections of Seymour and the hatred he felt towards him vanished. He felt warmth return to him once again.

"Yuna, I… I don't know what came over me," he answered to her look of silent relief. He sat up and looked at his arms. One of them was discoloured, though regaining its natural tan. The other one had slush all over it. "Thanks a lot. For healing me, I mean."

She blinked a few times, parting her lips as she stared at her hands. She giggled a little as Tidus tried to rid his arm of the sticky liquid. "It's all right. I'm just glad you're okay. Well, I have to go with Maester Seymour now…"

"I'll go with you," he stated boldly, jumping down the wall like nothing had ever happened. In truth he had wanted to be by her side in case Seymour… He found that he didn't harbour the same intense criticism for the maester any longer. In fact he felt guilt for what he said and implied towards him. "Uh… by the way, sorry for talking to Seymour like that. I guess I was overreacting. Hope I didn't offend you."

Yuna just shook her head, though deep down she pondered over what just happened. Amidst all the commotion, they completely forgot that Seymour had stayed behind and watched the events go down. He took long glares at them, one at a time, before sighing and turning his back again. Even when Yuna homed in by his side, he just looked on straight ahead.

* * *

"What the heck's that thing?"

It appeared to be a tower made out of dark stone stuck into the ground, but at the same time it had moss, crystals and chunks of metal lodged into it. Intricate embellishments of large monsters and glowing symbols stuck out to him the most. Whatever it was, it twisted Tidus' brain and nerve cells in all directions.

"This is a relic of old. It was salvaged from the ocean long ago, and donated to us because of its religious imagery," Seymour explained to him. Surprisingly Tidus didn't detect any hint of cynicism in the maester's voice. "Here you can see all the aeons. Interestingly enough, they seem to be in the forms that the revered Lady Belgemine envisioned them in long ago. And these glyphs on the sides especially puzzle me; I've been trying to translate them for years, but I haven't made any progress."

The guardian hummed as he and Yuna paced around the mysterious relic. He could feel power radiating from it. A nagging sensation from the back of his brain was irritating him at the sight of the aforementioned glyphs.

"It's a crying shame. All my days of studying and I still can't catch a hint as to what they mean," Seymour sighed loudly. He was secretly eyeing Tidus. "Not even a man who knows his way about the whole of Spira can figure it out, I must think. If one can, however… I may just think to blast myself in the foot."

Tidus' adrenaline kicked into gear just then. Some of these same glyphs were on the mirror's handle. He looked at the crisper, sharper, brighter writing some more… and memories came rushing back to him. His brother. His brother practised writing these very symbols all around his house. His house on Besaid. He finally figured it out!

'_Blast yourself in the foot, huh?_' Tidus' lips snaked upwards into a grin as he tapped his foot in giddiness. Wouldn't that be a sight to see?

"But enough of my moping. Let us get down to business," they walked into the neighbouring room. Seymour motioned for the two of them to sit down. "Yuna, the Bevelle Gauntlet is coming up in a few months' time. I suppose you know what this is?"

She nodded and smiled at the memory. She was seven years old, sitting on her father's shoulder and watching warriors and mages fight it out in a glorious and extravagant atmosphere. She especially remembered an incredibly muscular man with long, spiky black hair and a red bandana, duking it out with and knocking down all of his opponents. Her father seemed fond of him. Maybe that was why she remembered him so vividly.

"Um… I don't," Tidus pointed his finger up, quickly throwing it back down when he felt stares on his face.

"Every ten years, Bevelle holds a tournament where Spira's greatest fighters all come together to compete against each other. They must all fight until they can't fight any more. The ones with the three longest streaks win." Yuna explained, smiling when his face lit up with intrigue. "It's held to celebrate the Yevon religion, and to symbolise people's devotion to their ways and teachings."

"What happens if you win?"

"You get to hold one of the special artefacts that were believed to have been used by the aeons to create this world. In particular: Ixion's horn, Ifrit's necklace and Valefor's mask. Of course, those were the only ones that we could find as of today," Seymour continued. Afterwards he leaned forward and looked Yuna in the eyes. "Speaking of which, Lady Yuna, that is must we must do. I've been chosen to host the Guantlet this year, and since I'm your mentor we must go to retrieve all the artefacts in time for it."

Yuna covered her mouth to suppress a gasp. "Really? Tomorrow?"

Seymour nodded and turned towards Tidus. "I suppose since you're her guardian, you'll be wanting to come as well. However, you're not required to. If you want, you can stay here and take a couple of months' rest."

Tidus' heart raced at the thought of getting out of Bevelle, with Yuna no less. What was keeping him from bouncing out of his seat, however, was the way Seymour worded that statement. But as quickly as it came to him, it disappeared in a flash.

"You kidding? Of course I'll go!" he beamed, standing up suddenly. "I mean, it'll be, uh... a great honour to do a cause for Yevon, right? It's always what I wanted since I was a kid!"

"Really?" Seymour chortled. Yuna stared at her guardian with uncertainty. "Very well, then. I've arranged for a cruise to take us all the way south through Spira. We'll be going to Djose, Kilika and Besaid. Maybe if we have time we can stop at Luca for a bit. Our ship departs tomorrow morning. I'll meet you both at the docks."

After their agreement, they left the temple and made the walk back to their mansion. The sky was now a light lavender colour. Along the way, once Tidus got over his excitement of being able to smell the brine of the seas again, he realised a certain factor.

'_The same day Seymour takes Yuna's old man's place, he's now able to take her wherever he likes,' _he crossed his arms and looked down at the golden-bricked pavement. '_Is this a coincidence? I heard word gets around fast when it comes to politics, but still…'_

He chuckled at himself. Since when did he care about politics and paperwork? Yet when it came to Yuna's safety, he acted like he wanted to know everything about everything. He couldn't help himself from being overprotective of her. He started to wonder if it was from her near-death experience or if he got the trait from his mother.

His thoughts tried to focus on Seymour again. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even think of an insult to openly throw at him. Not even a disapproving expression. Whatever Yuna did… it was probably for the better.

* * *

The next day, Tidus decided to face his newfound fears and visit Geosgaeno early in the morning. He figured that he didn't leave because of the possibility of getting seen. Quietly he removed his boots and snuck onto the deck. He made his way over to the master control panel and unlocked it. The rusted hinges alerted the ship, and he only got in a few profanities before Tidus pulled out the backup drive.

A few hours later he was standing on the docks, waiting for Yuna to arrive. Heavy footsteps made him reach for his sword just in case, but once he saw it was Auron he instantly greeted. They spent some time sharing their experiences of Bevelle so far, and that was when Tidus had an idea.

"Don't get me wrong, Bevelle isn't as bad as I thought, but I still think some things are a little fishy," Tidus rambled, holding out a CommSphere for Auron to take. "I know where all the Al Bhed power stations are. Once I find one and use it with Geos, tell me anything that's gone wrong or weird."

"And what will you do with this information?" the maester asked of him, though still accepting the Commsphere.

"Uh… warn Yuna about it? I'm supposed to protect her, right?"

"Speaking of Yuna… keep an eye on her, and Seymour for that matter," he closed his eyes, pulling his collar away from his mouth. "Kinoc was acting strange just before his retirement. I'd reckon the other maesters know something about this. Stay focussed. Don't let your summoner out of your sight. If you do, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"Yuna's gonna be safe. I promise," he held out a determined fist. He imagined a grim reality without that smile and those jewelled eyes. He wasn't going to let that happen.

"Don't promise that to me. Promise that to Yuna."

With those words, Auron hid the Commsphere within his clothes and exited the docks. A while later, Yuna finally arrived. She was wearing a white dress and had a case full of clothes. They made peppy small talk. They didn't realise how much they were staring into each other, or at least, they weren't willing to admit it.

They were guided onto the luxurious ship that they would be staying on for a while. Tidus raced Yuna up the stairs to the front of the deck, which he expectedly won. As they waited for the maester to accompany them, they stared out at the deep blue ocean, listening to the gulls.

"Tidus, what's that?"

She was pointing towards another ship just behind some buildings. In all his years, Tidus had never seen anything like it. It was dark-green and black, and looked more like a cargo ship than anything. Before they could say anything about it, a few crew members confronted them loudly.

"Hey! The S.S. Dreamstrider's port is for maesters only! Go to your cabins!"

They were prodded off of the property and back down the stairs. After a particularly bad tumble, Tidus managed to catch Yuna despite multiple cuts and sprains. He looked down at the summoner, partially in his arms, with a sympathetic smile. And to think this was only the beginning.


	5. Piercing Stare

**Chapter V**

* * *

Over the next few days the S.S. Dreamstrider glided through the seas. Even when plagued by one of Spira's many freak storms, she was relentless in her voyage. For a large, heavy and needlessly ornate vessel her speed was not something to mock in the slightest. Only the most adept mages and bodybuilders would have been able to engineer her masterpiece - ideal for a maester.

Yuna had hoped that she would have had a satisfactory amount of time with Tidus; this was one of the few times that she had been on a boat trip, and she at least wanted to share her amateurish endeavours with someone much more skilled (and ask him if he knew any cures for seasickness, just in case). However, when it seemed like they would have a moment to themselves, she would be dragged away into the chambers by Seymour to catch up on her summoner training.

Summoning. The art of channelling and bending the wills of pyreflies to create physical apparitions. Strenuous, arduous and meticulous. It was easily the least favourite part of her duties, made even worse by Seymour's lack of mercy. To her, it was a mystery as to why she _had_ to take up this particular form of magic – as chosen by the council itself; she didn't consider herself as the most enduring person on Spira. It was most likely due to wanting to pay homage to their faith in Yevon, but still… why her?

After managing to summon a gull, its form dispersed straight afterwards. Its pyreflies clumped together and flew back into the cage as a swarm. Seymour approached a worn-out Yuna with a look of disgust.

"Two hours?" his voice held the sharpness of a knife. The golden-blue staff was nearly slipping from her fingers.

"I'm sorry, Maester Seymour, I—"

"Go," he motioned towards the doors, nearly hitting Yuna with the sleeve of his robe. With her head downcast, she set off in a fast walk, hearing Seymour give off an infuriated sigh as she did so.

She leaned against the railings of the ship. Her shoulders were set in depression and incompetence panged at her gut. Her frown was set in stone, creasing her delicate skin. At any moment, her hot tears would make contact with the cold ocean below. But then she heard feathery, hasty footsteps heading her way. She looked up at her visitor; she almost went blind from the light reflecting off of his golden tresses.

"I watched you through some cracks in the wall. That summoning stuff you did was amazing!"

She blushed at Tidus' compliment, and giggled at his sunny smile. He seemed to be a lot happier than in Bevelle. "Thank you, though I would hardly call it amazing. The other summoners do a far better job than I. I can't even last the average session."

"For real? I'd love to even be able to summon! If I could, I'd be making all the food I want appear!" her smile broadened at his silliness. He got quieter as he sat on top of the railings, knees protruding. "Seymour's just being a jerk. Keep going and you'll be the best summoner out there."

She nodded as she looked at him some more in admiration. She was growing fond of his inspirational messages; they gave her a hope and optimism that the peoples of Bevelle very rarely gave her. She wondered if every outsider behaved like this, or if it was just him. Maybe summoning training wouldn't be so bleak after all if his words would water the parched plants of her soul afterwards.

"Speaking of food," Tidus' stomach gurgled. "I hope we're not getting that goulash crud for lunch again."

Dread spiralled down Yuna's body from their shared opinions. Just then she saw a fraction of land rising up from the horizon. It was a barren, deadly brown; with thin sparks of electricity being discharged from the broken, jagged ruins that surrounded it. Relief washed over the two of them.

* * *

The three of them docked onto Djose a couple of hours later. Yevonite officials had made it to welcome them just in time. They led them to the metallic gates a little bit up the path, opening them and giving them access to the safe route. Seymour went on ahead, but Yuna made sure to thank them.

They were a distance down the highroad when Tidus mentioned to Seymour that he left his sword on the ship. He let the guardian go after some time, though he clenched his claws at his insolence. Tidus backtracked until they couldn't see him… and then leapt off of the path onto a small island on the lake, where he truthfully tossed his sword.

From there he trudged through the algae and towards a lone underground waterfall. He took out his spherelight and jumped down the rocks. He landed in a cavern full of broken screens and a few telecommunication and defence systems. He went over to the main one, took out the backup drive and plugged it into the port. The cavern came to life, fizzling with electric-blue surges of power.

"Oh, yeah. This is a real improvement. I'm so _thrilled_ being an operator, can't you tell?" Geosgaeno scoffed. If he had eyes, they would have rolled onto the floor.

"Yeah, yeah," Tidus dismissed him. From the touchscreen he selected Auron's Commsphere device. He had to wait a little bit before they were connected, but eventually Auron appeared on the screen. He was in a damp tunnel. "Yo, Auron. How's things?"

"Hm… Mostly normal. Judicial duty isn't as entertaining as it sounds," just as he said that, an anguished moan came out of the left speaker. "Mika gets a bit too much at times, but he's harmless. Although he does seem to obsess over my loyalty towards Yevon a lot. Supposedly he's just getting senile, but I have seen this same behaviour from him many years ago. He may be testing me. For what, I cannot say."

"Poor guy doesn't have the best memory, then," Tidus mused. "Anyway, same old thing on my end; Yuna's being great to me and Seymour's being a jackass. I swear the guy's driving her to her limits! If it wouldn't get me thrown overboard I'd smack him one."

"Actions speak louder than talking to yourself," Auron smirked. "Remember what we discussed, and until next time."

The screen switched off as it went back to the menu. Geosgaeno in the meantime was humming an innocent tune. As close as he could get to a musical performance, really. It started to crackle and go off-key as he grew more impatient.

"You'd go to death row for that Yevonite. How lovely."

Tidus growled and ejected the drive, putting it back into his bag. He made sure he had all his stuff and started the journey back to where Seymour and Yuna were. Seymour was already a ways ahead, but must have been persuaded to stay behind. Yuna remained rooted in almost the exact same spot.

"Never mind. I dropped it," he rubbed his head, plastering a sheepish smile over his face. Seymour clucked his tongue and beckoned for the both of them to follow, almost throwing his heavy robes behind him as he headed over the hill.

* * *

"It looks a little different from when I last saw it," was Tidus' almost pointless observation of Djose Temple. Previously it had supported itself by using its electricity to uphold the rocks that it was buried under. Now, however, the rocks were all positioned into piles at its sides, and the lightning towers were gone and replaced with Yevonite banners and quarantine notices.

"It was thought that the electricity had been supplied by Ixion himself. However, when some officials came to investigate reports of strange voices from under the ground, they found out that it was coming from the experiments that some hiding Al Bhed were using," Seymour explained, directing their attention towards the fire pits outside the temple. Chunks of scrap metal were being melted within them as Yevonite guards surrounded the place. "They've been taken away for their treason. Make sure to embrace the blessing of Yevon when we enter."

"Isn't that harsh?" the guardian chastised him, making a half-hearted prayer as they stepped into the foyer. "They were holding up the rocks. They weren't doing anything bad."

"Nothing bad? They're Al Bhed, Tidus," Seymour seethed, turning around to face the two of them. "Machina worshippers. Destroyers of the pure magic and essence of Spira. Their sins against life itself are why those storms have been eternally ravaging Spira, demolishing villages and killing thousands! Good riddance that those parasites have been wiped from the temple. Maybe now the storms around here will cease, if Ixion will forgive us."

Tidus honestly wasn't surprised that a maester like him held such a prejudiced view on a certain race, although it still ignited a fury within him. However, as soon as Seymour turned away he saw Yuna tensing up, clutching onto the wafer-thin material of her sleeves.

"I'm fine," she said before Tidus could even utter a word, and ran off at a faster pace than Seymour. The guardian looked on at her retreating openness in a stupor. She couldn't possibly be… could she? Could such a life of horridness even exist?

The best he could do was just leave her be; he didn't want to risk making the situation worse. At the doors to the Chamber, Seymour explained their situation to the priest, who then obliged and let them pass on through.

The room was coated in a dark and rusted copper, symbols of Yevon embedded into the walls. A large mandala hung on the other side and a gigantic zebra-patterned horn, which looked more like a spear, lay on the pedestal below it. It was made inaccessible by a crater in the middle, which had smoke bellowing from its secondary gaps and was crudely covered up by tattered carpet and flailing power lines. The three of them were not expecting it to be in this state, though one was less impressed than the others.

"A machina must have exploded. Not surprising for an Al Bhed," Seymour muttered nonchalantly, turning to Tidus with a commanding gesture. He threw a silk cloth towards him. "You're the agile one. Go get it."

'_I thought I was supposed to be the guardian,'_ he had nearly said out loud, but quickly caught what would have been his last words. He rolled his eyes and prepared to hop over what was left of the floor, despite the summoner's cries of worry.

He nearly stumbled into the bottomless pit, but he managed to jump the rest of the length before he lost his balance. He looked on towards the horn; a wispy light shone down upon it. After more pressure by Seymour he readied the cloth and headed towards it, almost afraid that a part of the floor would collapse again.

It was then he heard voices. Weak, wobbly voices. Of sibilance and broken vowels that were incomprehensible. Tidus whipped his head around in all directions, and then called for the others. Seymour stared at him as though he was insane… and he may have been correct.

Working up the courage to keep moving forward, he bunched the silk within his hands. The voices kept getting louder. He reached out for the horn; still the voices echoed within him. Silk made contact with the horn.

His heart contracted with an insufferable pain. His entire body went numb and cold as he collapsed to the floor, still holding the horn. He heard a muffled feminine scream as he slipped into a void.

* * *

When next his eyes opened, all Tidus could see was a golden man-shaped light just in front of him. It was hunched over. Spiky ponytails were splayed all over its head. He got up from his position on the pitch-black floor and approached it from behind, just a little bit confused.

"Though I couldn't see them, I heard them all. I heard the wails of the slaves, the destruction of the culture and the roaring of the flames. It is miserable to think that this happens every day, ever since that day. If only you could be there to save them…"

It swerved around to face him. It had no facial features apart from two squinted, quivering eyes.

"But you aren't here," it whispered, its deep voice cracking. "The prosecution of your people rages on. Spira spirals deeper into hopelessness, towards Purgatory, and all I can do is…"

Tidus couldn't manage to form a full sentence. He slowly inched away from the form and deeper into the black void. It ducked its head and almost made a charge towards him. Eventually he had to throw up his arms in defence. Nothing happened. It went straight through him and faded away into the darkness, not heeding him any attention.

He shook his head, looked down at his hands, slapped himself – he wasn't waking up. Voices rang in his mind once again. He clamped his eyes shut. Colours and shapes were fleeting across the eigengrau. They formed into a single image: a white eye. A white eye with scars and tears trailing down from it. He began to panic and opened his eyes again. Still, all he could see was darkness.

He was startled off of his feet by the rumbling of footsteps. From the endless space above him, a claw dove for him. Before he could react it tightened around his whole upper body. He struggled and fell into unconsciousness shortly afterwards as he lay in the grasp's retreating capture.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right," Tidus gave Yuna his best smile, though deep down the trauma he felt was still gnawing at him. From what he heard from her, he was in a comatose state for a couple of hours. Seymour had to risk himself to retrieve both his body and the artefact, and carry him all the way back to the ship. Yuna had been keeping her eyes on him ever since he hit the bed. "Thanks for looking out for me."

She smiled back; pink blotched on her pale cheeks. Once they entered the dining hall they made their way to their assigned seats. Seymour was already tucking into his gammon when he took Tidus under his scrutiny.

"I suppose you're feeling better?" he raised an eyebrow. His tone was laced with concern.

"Uh… yeah. Couldn't be better—any better," Tidus lied. His mood only sullied when he noticed what was on his place. '_Oh great. Fish.'_

Seymour nodded and continued eating, bite by bite. Tidus looked over to Yuna; her face gave the impression that she had eaten a whole lemon without knowing. He never knew that a salad could be so foul, but he offered to secretly help her out. He faked a yawn to silence the activity of their swapping dishes, and they propped up the napkins to hide the contents.

The salad was indeed foul; he actually thought he was going to throw up. He settled for the greens that hadn't been touched by the sauce-like substance, and Yuna gave him a nod of gratefulness and sympathy. He looked at Seymour to check if he was catching on, but instead he found himself drawn to a painting hanging just beside him.

"Who's he?" he pointed at the portrait. The man on the canvas was tanned, middle-aged, had long platinum hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing black and purple robes. Seymour seemed eager to educate him.

"A recreation of Yu Yevon, possibly from centuries ago. This is why this version is a priceless treasure – I'm incredibly fortunate in possessing it. I'd even say the picture frame isn't that much less sought after."

The frame appeared to be slanted and bent in a few areas, but that confirmed Tidus' thinking that it was made out of solid gold. On it, there were symbols resembling those he often saw on Bevelle's buildings. They were arranged in symmetrical arches, leading up to—

There it was again. That eye insignia. Its simplistic wings folded underneath it, its singular tiny pupil burning into his. He jumped backwards into his seat, causing it to jolt. His appetite was stripped from him as his stomach began to churn. This fear…

Yuna cried out his name as he stumbled off of the chair, only taking a few steps before plummeting to the hardwood floor. Seymour craned his neck as he witnessed the summoner trying to take the commotion into her own hands. She excused them both, made the journey to Tidus' bedroom with him on her shoulders, and helped him onto the bed. She crouched down as he shifted around on the springy mattress. He had been avoiding her gaze, until he finally worked up the courage to speak to her.

"Sorry," he half-laughed. "You've been more of a guardian to me than I have. Guess I gotta start doing my job right."

She shook her head vigorously. "It doesn't matter. You have a right to be taken care of as well."

He grunted with a curiosity. "On what grounds?"

"How is a guardian meant to work when he can't even stand up straight? It's inefficient and more dangerous than anything," she was scared that she sounded insensitive, but Tidus just laughed. "You're… you're also my friend, so I don't like seeing you like this."

"Sorry, again. You don't have to be all formal like that. Just be yourself;" he stated, pointing at himself with one hand and making a circular gesture around his head with the other. He had to suppress another fit of giggles. Why was he so giddy all of a sudden?

Yuna cleared her throat; she was beginning to find her hands very fascinating. She sat down on the chair next to his bedside. "Tidus… can I tell you something? Before I met you, I didn't really have any friends. I had a number of guardians, but we never got to talking or knowing each other that much; they and I were too caught up in our duties. Some of them were rude a-and… they all gave up on me at some point."

His eyes widened as he stared at her. His muscles were beginning to slacken from her confession. He edged as close to her as he can, reaching out his hand to place on her shoulder. "I know how you feel."

Her skin got warmer upon the contact. She looked at his gloved hand and then to his face, displaying a vulnerability. "Tidus, are you going to be staying here?"

He almost let the words of his promise slip. No matter how hard he wanted to say it, a pest at the back of his head prevented him. Instead he offered her a tiny, genuine smile, nodding his head. She offered him the same, though her normally clean eyes seemed to go cloudy.

"Maybe they left for the better," she said so quietly she thought that Tidus wouldn't catch it. But in the pure silence, with just the two of them… he was certain he knew what she was talking about. She stood up, helped him get into a more comfortable position and politely walked towards the door. Before going through, she turned back to him. "Um… goodnight."

Once Tidus was all alone, he tumbled around in his bed, scrunching up his sheets and letting dark laughs escape his throat.

'_What am I doing? I just said I wanted to be in Bevelle!' _laughs turned into wheezes. A migraine infested his brain as he toppled back onto the pillows. '_Did I just shoot both sides of my foot?'_

But no matter how dire the circumstances seemed, he wasn't as scared as he first imagined.

'_I still have a couple of months; Kilika's a ways off. It's either cherish the time I have or work up a master plan,' _he wrung his arms behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. A smirk broke out over his face. '_Maybe I'll get them to give me a boat. Maybe I'll take Yuna with me, too.'_

On that note, that time where he briefly forgot what Yuna's faith was, he turned over and closed his eyes. He drifted off into a dream world; him on an endless sea of wonders, and a certain woman laughing with him.

* * *

Brittle chills loomed over the sky. Life forms ran for shelter as booming thunder ghosted over them. Clouds of black and blue, just barely keeping a hold on the devastation within, blocked out the sun. Djose was overcome with the mark of death.

From the deck of the ship, Seymour watched the storm claim its territory. He could see the first barrage of rain just before Djose vanished with the horizon. He slowly turned around and glided down the stairs, his cold lips supporting a feral grin.


	6. Cosmic Dreams

**Chapter VI**

* * *

The next few weeks came down on them like a pack of vultures; the further they travelled south into the tropical waters the more likely they were to get caught up in a heatwave. Tidus had been so used to the air conditioning in his own ship, and he quickly learned that he shouldn't take it for granted. He even swore that parts of the gilding on the ship were oozing off, dropping as globs into the steaming waters below.

Yuna's summoner training was just as intense as ever, and the relentless fury of the sun had only been making it worse. There would be times where she would faint from exhaustion after her session, and Tidus would have to take her to her chambers early. She didn't have any time to do what she desired. Seymour's intolerance for her slipping concentration was piling up. As the weeks went by, the summoner and the maester would get into arguments every single day over the subject, and she would always be sent away with nearly having a nervous breakdown.

Yuna lay shivering in her singular silk bed. If it was too hot during the day, it was too cold during the night. She clutched onto the multiple layers of sheets, trying her hardest to go to sleep, when she heard multiple knocks on the door. Thinking it was her mentor she was overcome with a sudden anger and cuddled further into the sheets, silently pleading for him to go away.

"I guess she's sleeping…" came a voice from the other side. She gasped. That wasn't Seymour's voice at all.

Saying his name was almost like a reflex to her. She threw on a fluffy nightgown and rushed to open the door. He was wearing winter clothes, holding a white blanket under his arm, and just about to round the corner when he heard his summoner approaching him. They hadn't talked to each other at all for a couple of days.

"Hey, Yuna," he gave her a small wave. They couldn't resist smiling as they looked upon each other. "I know that Seymour's been stressing you out, and you're not getting along, so…"

"So…" she tilted her head in puzzlement.

"…Do you wanna stargaze?" Yuna made a noise and stammered. His cheeks had a slight red tint. "Something's going on with the sky tonight and I… I thought it would help you take your mind off things."

She cupped her lips with her hand. One night to escape from it all; with the gentle lapping of the waves, the soothing rocking of the ship, the moonlit starry sky… and Tidus right beside her. She nodded sincerely and told him to wait as she dressed up in more appropriate attire. Afterwards she and her guardian walked by each other's sides, keeping as quiet as possible as to not alert the slumbering maester.

* * *

Yuna was speechless as she beheld the phenomenon above her. Dazzling blue rifts split the lifeless darkness above them. Nebulae of all colours were smudged all across the horizon, as a large full moon hung above the rippling waters. Stars dotted the portions which were not struck by the miraculous beauty. The two of them completely forgot that they were alive, breathing, taking it in with their naked eyes.

"It's real pretty, isn't it?" Tidus exclaimed, unfurling the blanket just at the ship's stern. They sat down upon it whilst still starstruck by the rarity.

"They say a sky like this only appears once a year, on the day Yu Yevon and the aeons created Spira," he relaxed his neck to look at her; she was doing the same. "It completely slipped my mind until now. It was impossible to notice this back in Bevelle, with the storms and all…"

Tidus steadily lowered his body so that he was lying on his back, arms tucked behind his head. Yuna shifted so that her legs were crossed. The two of them bathed in the atmosphere, not needing any more words to express their serenity.

"I wonder if I can see any planets."

"Planets?"

"Yeah. Come lie down," he said. She obliged to the command and lay down straight, hands laced together on her stomach. "There's this old story that there are tons of other worlds out there. All with their own cities and people and everything. They're all way out there, in space, and nobody's never ever been to or seen them."

She was overcome with awe. "Maybe these worlds have their own aeons as well."

"Maybe," his eyes were still fixated on the details flying above him. "Everyone says it's just a myth, but I think it's true. We can't be the only ones around here, right? There's gotta be someone looking for us, or thinking the same thing!"

She began to chuckle, tilting her neck at an angle to get a good look at Tidus' face. "You're starting to make me believe it as well!"

He sprung a smile at her enthusiasm. His eyes spanned over the sparkling dome, still intent in his search for an enigma. "Someday, somehow, I'm gonna find one of those worlds. And then we can both go to it. Sound good?"

Yuna's eyes lit up with hope. What a dream this man was reaching for. "I'll be looking forward to it."

For hours they sat together, pointing out constellations; sharing their imaginations on what a world different to theirs would be like: a place with no strife or destruction, where everybody was respected and hatred was non-existent. Somewhere where storms didn't exist, and everybody could be joyful and carefree. Nobody was there to usher them back inside, or break their ears with barking commands and instructions. They were the only two people in Spira who were seemingly still awake.

Once the beauty started to fade away and the cold became too much for them to handle, they reluctantly retreated towards the cabin. They were outside Yuna's bedroom door when they were about to part ways.

"I had a wonderful time. Thank you so much," she said profusely, yet quietly. She handed his coat back to him; he had wrapped her up in its warmth at one point.

"Don't sweat it. You needed it," Tidus humbled himself, averting his gaze for a moment. "Hey, aren't we heading into Luca soon? We can do other things there. You know, to get rid of the rest of the work-up."

"Whose? Seymour's?"

"What!? No!" he declined with vigour. Yuna just laughed heartedly as he realised her teasing, meekly rubbing his head. "He's having too much fun as is. Anyway, see ya tomorrow."

She reciprocated, watching him walk past her and towards the stairs to the underdeck. She felt something then: a funny, molten feeling in her chest and throat. She took a deep breath and softly called his name. She walked up to him whilst he was still standing still, curved an arm around his back and pulled him in for a loose hug. Their proximity lasted for a few seconds before she dashed off into her room again, experiencing a similar spark in her gut.

Tidus stood glued to his spot. He tried and failed to hold down a goofy grin. He spun around on his heel and nearly fell down the whole flight of steps; his bubbles of thoughts and awareness were floating aimlessly within him.

* * *

After replenishing their supplies and stretching their legs in the city of Luca, they docked at the island of Kilika a few days later. Tidus remembered this place fondly as the three of them walked on the sand; Kilika and Besaid were neighbouring islands, and his younger self would often sneak onto these shores for their fresh sights and festivities. It would sometimes take a whole night before his family realised that he was gone. When he got older his little escapades eventually stopped, due to his limits being breached.

They ascended into the town village; it was built on flimsy and soggy planks and pylons above the ocean, with the actual island just behind it. Tidus was poking around his brain trying to remember whereabouts the secretive power station was, but he was soon confronted by numerous members of the village. Ones who remembered who he was.

"Tidus! Man, it's been a long time!" a large man forcefully shook his hand. Like everyone else he had stitched-together bits of textiles for clothes, and looked close to the same age as him. "You remember me, right?"

"Uh… I sure do, old pal," he lied, much to his own chagrin.

"Wow. It's actually been such a long time," he repeated breathlessly. Tidus could tell that he was shedding tears of nostalgia. "I can't even think how Eldress Dona's gonna respond!"

"Who?" Yuna added, intrigued by her title.

"That's quite enough, Barthello," a sultry-sounding woman reprimanded him, walking up from behind. She had black hair, a dark tan and was wearing very revealing clothes. Yuna was shocked by her boldness. "My, my, my… if it isn't Seeker Tidus and his travesty of a wardrobe."

"Long time no see, Dona," he held back a groan of irritancy. This was the one person who had a place in his memories, and that was because he couldn't stand her. "Sorry but I can't stay here long. We're running an errand for something in Bevelle."

She puckered her lips and hummed with a curiosity. She swerved around him and came to lay eyes on Yuna's unsure, belittled form. She only scrunched up her face upon noticing Seymour and turned back to Tidus, a hand on her hip as she strode up to him.

"A guardian and his summoner, huh? I was in a similar position," Dona took no shame in tracing a finger down his clavicle. "My, I must admit that I love a man who's able and willing to take a hit. You're inching closer towards my ideal."

Another completely new and strange feeling overcame Yuna; it was a hybrid of upset, unworthiness and… annoyance. Barthello let out a whimper as his eyebrows arched, and Tidus didn't even make an effort to hide his discomfort and sense of dignity.

"We don't have time for this," Seymour snapped. "Eldress Dona, would you direct us towards the temple of Ifrit? We are required to borrow the artefact."

She made a sarcastic melody, huffing and telling them to follow her. She led them through the cluster of huts to two large gates made out of teak and stone; this was the gateway between the village and the rainforest. Tidus grimaced at the memories upon seeing them, as he had once gotten completely lost within the maze of trees, walkways and ruins. Dona directed a finger towards the very top of the island, where the temple slept. Before they went through she blew Tidus a kiss. Yuna stiffened and stubbornly urged them to continue on. Her guardian followed, completely ignoring the eldress' actions.

* * *

The voyage through the jungle was refined torture. The sun bludgeoned them with its heat, camouflaged fiends lurked in the shadows and every single dip in the ground was choking with thick mud. They got so frequent that Tidus had to resort to crawling on bushes and climbing on trees to keep moving forward. Seymour and Yuna were unsure as to why he chose such a tiresome route, but the latter was impressed. He even helped her cross a branch when they were confronted by a large bog, though Seymour had no trouble in just trudging through it.

Yuna let out a cry when her guardian fell backside-first into a mud puddle; he had hit a damp spot on a branch and slipped right off. Fortunately he was unharmed and he shook the droplets from his hair. However, he seemed to be struggling to stand, and as he stared down at his right leg… he began to hyperventilate.

"_Water! I need water!"_

She had never seen him in such distress. She quickly took out her flask and gave it to him. He half-yelled a thanks as he trampled into the bushes. Overcome with worry, she decided to follow him despite his want for privacy. It took her a few moments to figure out where exactly he fled to, but she eventually ended up watching him from the bushes. The sight surprised her.

He had removed the boot and the knee-high sock from his right... prosthetic. The strange chunk of metal was shaped like a lower leg, yet had wires and supports welded in every gap and hole. Tidus was frantically cleaning out the mud from what seemed to be the vital areas, with just a damp cloth. Thinking she had seen enough, Yuna squeezed through the vegetation and back onto the main road. Seymour had been about to follow her through, and they stayed until Tidus was finished with his medical work.

Yuna kept casting looks towards Tidus and his leg as they slowly ascended the hill. Either he didn't notice or was intentionally keeping his distance from the topic. After countless flights of stairs and balconies, they came upon the temple's auditorium. The sun's rays hit them with full force and the village appeared as tiny specks upon the waters. Seymour represented them as they approached the priests, and then they entered the Chamber.

The room was relished with warm colours and stone carvings. Ifrit's necklace lay in the middle, on a table made out of bones. A temptation swept over Tidus; he had not forgotten what happened the last time, and he wondered what this artefact would do to him. He was about to pounce on a determined leg, but Yuna quickly grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" she cried, panic etched into her frown. "Seymour, can you retrieve it instead?"

Seymour obliged without question. He slowly approached the necklace, silk cloth in clawed hands. He appeared to hesitate for just a split second, but gathered up the stringed beads as the room lost its warmth. Much to Tidus' confusion, nothing happened to him.

* * *

A priest had offered them fruits and vegetables after their long journey. Tidus was sitting down on the steps in the auditorium, happily munching away at a juicy mango. He was mindlessly listening in on a conversation within the temple.

"Maester Seymour, your knowledge is impeccable," a priest exclaimed. The clinking of silverware could be heard. "Your people in your hometown must be honoured to have you as their representative."

"I am only upholding the legacy of my bloodline," a silky voice resounded. "I only wish that I would stop being criticised for looking like a half-breed. Guadosalam and its people are not all like the stereotypes, and I will not stand for such prejudice based upon my looks. Especially considering that the Guado very rarely appear to the public in the first place."

'_What a hypocrite!' _Tidus' expression turned snide, glaring at the entrance. From his angle he could see Seymour, and Yuna coming over to collect his dishes. He scowled once more. Seymour spoke once more:

"Real half-breeds are inhuman. They are dangerous, and are the result of tampering with the fundamentals of life. Comparing me to those creatures is the epitome of offensive. They're no different than breeding fiends!"

Juice splattered across Tidus' cheek; he had crushed the fruit with his grip. He had lowered his head in resentment when he heard the breaking of dishes. Uproar followed, along with a barely audible but bold apology. Seymour remained in his place as the priests scuttled around to clean up the mess. His expression contorted… before coming to lay eyes directly on Tidus.

He silently beckoned the guardian to come inside, presumably to help the situation. He threw away the crumpled skin of the mango and strode up to the entrance, only quickening when he heard what sounded like the priests' insults.

* * *

The group of three was coming to the clearing in the rainforest, just short of where the village lay. All this time, Seymour had been scolding Yuna for her carelessness within the temple, but his words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Tidus had been scouting the area when the two of them weren't looking, intent on finding the power station. He was certain that it was somewhere around the civilisation, but his memory seemed to be failing him due to his long absence from Kilika. When he was about to give up he saw a pile of lopsided ruins, hiding away in a burrow underneath a tree. He grinned for his own trained eyes and roused Seymour's attention. He was still prattling on to the summoner.

"Hey, can you go on without me for a bit? I wanna stay and look around; this place brings back a lot of memories."

Scorn radiated from the maester's narrowed eyes. "No. We've wasted enough time."

Tidus sighed to himself. It was going to take some tact to break through this barrier.

It started with him arguing that it would be a while before he could ever come back here, which then escalated into a heated discussion over his rights. Yuna had tried to intervene and defend her guardian, when she was roughly shoved aside by the maester. This resulted in a shouting match between the two of them. By then the absolutely manic look in Seymour's eyes and his hissing had completely upstaged Tidus' more subdued methods.

"Very well! You know what? You can just stay on Kilika if you're this pathetic and desperate! Nobody will ever notice!" he shrieked unprofessionally. Blinding resentment was pumping through his bulging veins as he looked down on the two teenagers; he had sent them both to the ground in his fury. "First you ridicule Yu Yevon's image, and now mine. I can't believe I once looked up to you."

Tidus' face was quizzical at his closing words, and so was Yuna's. Seymour faced away from them and rubbed at his eyes, shuddering. His actions stopped.

He stared up at the sky. A particular spot in the sky. Tidus felt a chill wrap around his entire body, as well as a familiar wrenching in his stomach. Seymour took several steps backwards, scanning frantically over every bush and tree that he could see. He turned back to them. For the first time, they could detect fear in his eyes.

"Run."


	7. Even In Death

**Chapter VII**

* * *

A sharp wind howled throughout the island as piercing rain pelted down. The vibrant blue sky had dissolved into blacks and greys within a minute, blocking out the sun and plunging them into darkness. Thumps, rattling and the severing of vegetation sounded everywhere. The freak storm. Tidus grabbed Yuna's hand and dragged her onto her feet; she was paralysed by fear.

"Yuna, I know a shelter! Come with me and we'll hide there," he shouted, not letting the thunder drown out his words.

"No!" Seymour retorted, forcing the two of them apart. He brandished his staff and cast a glare towards the summoner. "Yuna, defend yourself and head back to the ship. I will lure these fiends into the open and take care of them. Go!"

"Are you crazy?! You'll lead 'em straight into the village!"

Their conflict was halted when several fiends descended right onto them. They were the same colour as the ones that attacked Bevelle, only they looked like octopi and adorned rough, spiky shells. They lurched for Seymour, who shook off their tentacles and stabbed them with his staff. While he was distracted, Tidus took Yuna up in his arms and sprinted for the burrow. Her yelps alerted the maester.

"What are you doing?! Stop! I command you to stop!" Seymour bellowed. He shot a few blasts of dark magic at the guardian before giving up; the fiends were circling around him, bearing vicious fangs as their froth mixed in with the rainwater.

He gripped his staff close to him as he prepared to jump over the ruins. They gave chase to him, lunging and eventually crawling to death as the battering rain got the best of them. He gurned as he looked down upon the corpses, and retreated into the village.

'_This wasn't supposed to happen…_'

* * *

Tidus swooped and trampled over any foliage he could reach; the rain had turned the whole of the ground into slurry, and he couldn't risk his leg getting jammed when he had a summoner to protect. The hill was just up ahead. The fiends were only getting larger and more abundant with every passing second.

"We're almost there. Just a bit longer," he reassured Yuna, who was clinging onto him for dear life.

Upon reaching the peak of the hill he set her down in a nook, checking to see if the depths below had any dangers lurking within it. It was nearly impossible to see anything with how dark it was. He was concentrating so much on what was in front of him that he was completely unaware of his surroundings.

"**Tidus!**"

He turned around. A gigantic fiend clung onto the ruins. Its multiple golden eyes were glowing, about to unleash their energy. His first instinct was to defend Yuna.

A voice rang in his head as the hill exploded, burning debris crashing down as the two of them plummeted into the darkness.

'_I will shield you, even in death!'_

Tidus had lost consciousness for a few minutes. He got up onto his knees, an excruciating pain shooting through his joints. To his horror, a trembling and injured Yuna was whispering his name and weakly reaching out to him. His throat clogged up as he tried to answer to her response, but the surges of pain chained him to his spot.

The light from the outside world brightened up their surroundings: His sword had skidded across to the other side; his duffel bag's strap still stuck to his shoulder; the power station's components had withstood the blast… and a group of large fiends had slithered in from the hole, intent on feasting upon them both.

There was only one way to save themselves. Tidus mustered up his strength and crawled over to the main control panel. He dug into his bag and fumbled around for the backup drive. An unforgettable scream filled the room; the fiends had crammed themselves together, each of them steeling a grip around Yuna's legs and dragging her up the walls. Hundreds of gleaming teeth about to dive onto her flesh. Tidus was overcome with an unbearable misery as he shoved the drive into the panel. Hoping… praying that it would boot up in time.

He tightly grabbed his tensed arms, almost drawing blood. He clenched his jaw; he braced his whole body. He felt like a failure. They had come so far, so close, and yet…

A wave of sensations washed over him, just then. The slimy crackling of tentacles, the hurricane and the screams were muffled and went silent… and all he could hear were the amplified sounds of raindrops. An uncontrollable shaking in his hands made them take on a mind on their own and, in his adrenaline, he swerved around to the fiends. The pulsing was too much for him, and a colourless barrier imploded from his palms and rippled across the room. The raindrops and the puddles seemed to respond to it; they flew upwards, combined together and fell as a barrage onto the fiends. They shrilled as they released Yuna, using their tentacles to rub at their soaking bodies; the sheer impact was stinging them.

"What the—" Tidus was at a loss for words, staring at his hands as the feelings died down. He heard a synthetic voice's exaggerated huff of surprise.

"What were you doing in your spare time?"

"Ah—you saw that?" he fumed, partially angry that he just did nothing while they were about to die. But then it only turned into blame. With some of his pains gone he shuffled over to Yuna and gathered her in his arms, and then scuttled to the back of the cave. "What're you waiting for? Sick 'em!"

The functioning defence mechanisms came to life, charging up blue electricity and blasting it at the fiends. The water had left them vulnerable to electrocution. They only had a few more seconds of life. They slumped to the ground in a heap, forming a makeshift staircase out of the hole.

Tidus' back slid down the rocks. He was breathing heavily from exhaustion. He looked down at the summoner whom he had placed by his side. She was bleeding from the fall and unable to comprehend anything else. From the control panel Geosgaeno tried to form sentences, but the guardian quickly pointed at his tiny earpiece. After a delay, it started crackling.

"_I know you don't really want to talk to me, but… I've been thinking, you know? That you're going through a rough time with all of this, and maybe I've been a little selfish with what I've said…_

_Is this what they call being sorry? Yeah. It probably is, so…_"

Tidus sighed softly and nodded. He looked back towards Yuna, who in turn was looking at him. They looked like they were both about to pass out. It had been a few minutes since the fiends died.

"Nothing else is coming. Maybe Seymour took care of them all," she whispered, her vision starting to go fuzzy. She slumped her head against the wall, but her guardian held her to try and get her comfortable. He gazed down at her brunette head, a feathery feeling in his gut.

"_You really do care for her, don't you?" _the voice sniggered in an attempt to lighten his sorrow. "_Can't say I've seen something like this, let alone with someone like you. Let alone with a—_"

He glared at the blue light on the mechanism, getting a small apology out of it, but he couldn't hold it for long. His summoner had stolen his concentration. Suddenly he felt a cold hand on his cheek and green warmth emitting from the palm. A rejuvenating feeling coursed through his veins. Yuna gave him a trusting smile before closing her eyes.

"Yuna…" his tone held sorrow as he stared down at her limp body. He got up onto his feet, ejected the drive and gathered up his other belongings before picking her up. Speaking to Auron would have to wait; his priority was her and only her.

* * *

Yuna had slipped in and out of consciousness as Tidus made the trek towards the village, keeping out of the sight of any remaining fiends that the others hadn't killed. Upon reaching the gates, parts of the fence were broken off and charred. Within the gates, boardwalks and huts had chunks torn from them and some had even collapsed into the monstrous tides. Red-black stains and bodies were littered all over, some moving and some not. He tried to not make her stare at the nightmarish view as he quickly boarded their ship.

He took her to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed. He was about to make another journey to the medicinal ward before a tall figure obstructed the doorway. His heavy, furious footsteps tortured the wooden planks below him as he gave the summoner a deadly glare.

"Get up. Get your staff and fight," he seethed, venom laced in his bitter, honest voice. He heard growls from behind him.

"Seymour, I… Please, I can't do it in—"

"Do you think your summoning training is for fun? Or your black magic studies, for that matter? Forget about your _bruises _and _bumps_ and make yourself useful for once! Are you trying to be the most cowardly summoner in Spira?"

Yuna's eyes began to water and she drew away from the clawed hand that was extending out to her. Another gloved hand seized the maester's and yanked it away. Tidus' intense blue eyes bore into his icy ones; he had had enough. There was no doubt that he was an absolutely cruel person, and he wasn't going to get away with it. Seymour was about to flick away his grasp until he started to speak. Lowly, yet powerfully.

"You will **not **bring Yuna, the one _I'm_ supposed to protect, into anything to do with these damned storms ever again. You may be a maester, but… no. That means nothing. You're just a monster."

He hardened his grip on the maester's pale flesh. He tried to hide his wince of pain at his strength.

"I'm gonna stop each and every one of those fiends. Help me if you want, Seymour. But if I see Yuna anywhere outside this ship, we're taking off without you."

The summoner verbally opposed his actions despite being touched by them.

He gave her a sad smile before shoving Seymour out of the way, storming off to his room. He set his sword on the bed and reached down under it, pulling out a metal case the same size as his blade. Unlocking the code had him face-to-face with an assortment of additional and dangerous machina components. He attached the magic absorber, amplifying cylinder and magic cannon to the sword's hilt; it now resembled a vicious black dragon. He held the handle and the blade in his hands as he strode off towards the deck, prepared for any battle.

* * *

Every fiend that so much as glanced at him, he slaughtered. He poured out all his rage into every blow. His sword was soon dripping with black, and Tidus was growing sick of those despicable three colours that every one of his challengers sported. But he soon found that he had no more anger to share, and the fiends were starting to pile onto him and shred his skin. He began to flee back towards the ship, hoping that he could have an advantage on its confined—

An explosion of noise rung through the sky.

Tidus was sent to the ground from the shifting boardwalks, and the fiends that were catching up to him began to trample away. He heard what sounded like wailing and dying spirits. He looked up to the darkness. A swirling purple rift had appeared above the ocean, parting the clouds and tearing the sky asunder. A high-pitched roar sounded from within it.

He broke out into a cold sweat and dread swept across him. He slowly boarded the ship and reluctantly watched the rift from behind a mast. Little by little a black-purple tail flailed about as it descended from the parting. When its thrashing stopped, a lightning bolt crackled just beside it. It sent the fiend into a frenzy as it ungracefully fell from the rift, crashing into the ocean and causing waves to swallow up the whole beach. The ship jolted as it withstood the waters. Tidus had been lucky to grab onto the mast in time.

The fiend leapt about in the water and started destroying numerous small islands with its tail; it was an enormous serpent with large blue fins, glowing golden eyes and spikes on every scale of its body. It was more than twice the length of the S.S. Dreamstrider, but sported a very narrow body. It lacked endurance and means of protection but, as Tidus watched its wrath in terror, was capable of mass destruction.

After the serpent got over its initial shock it made a note of its surroundings… and streamed straight for the ship.

Tidus went up to the forbidden front deck to get a good position. It approached at a fast yet steady speed as nothing but its fins could be seen. He readied his sword in front of him as his sweat got washed away by the rain. If he was lucky, he could stand by his words. For now he would just have to stand his ground.

"Do you require assistance?"

He growled deeply as Seymour came up from behind him. "If you can give me any."

"Not to worry. Look what I have," the maester unfurled his hand to show Ifrit's necklace hanging from his fingers. Tidus let out a sharp and short sound. "I watched you handle that sword. I think its abilities combined with mine and the necklace's magical essence would make for a powerful blast of magic, am I right?"

He looked puzzled as he glanced down at the apparent machina on his sword, and then to Seymour putting on the necklace. Something strange was going on with him, but if this would avert their impending dooms… "It's worth a try."

Tidus could feel the blaze emitting from the maester as he stood back. Power flourished through him and he raised his hand, palm facing upwards. He shut his eyes and concentrated, humming to himself. The guardian could see his teeth grit together and hear his frustrated grunts, but soon enough he opened them again. They had a tinge of glowing orange within them.

Seymour called out a signal and unleashed the scorching force from within. The rain sizzled and turned into steam as it tried to pierce through the compressed blast of hellfire. Tidus lifted his heavy sword into the air and hit a small switch on the bottom. The fire was sucked in through the large opening and stored in the throat of the hilt, mixing in with the amplifying liquid as it did so.

The deafening noise of splashing water alerted them to the serpent's proximity. As quickly as he could, Tidus climbed onto the roof of the cabin and pointed his sword straight towards the fiend. He could barely keep a grip on the handle with how much it was overheating, Not a few moments later the serpent rose just in front of the port, exposing its body. He pulled back the stiff switch on the hilt, crouched down and aimed for where its heart should be. A blinding bout of magma colours engulfed it as it shrilled its life away. Once the blast died down the serpent was charred and missing a majority of its torso. It careened backwards into the ocean with a withering moan. It was slain.

He eased himself off of the roof, breathing a gust of relief. He looked up to the sky and saw that the storm was calming down… and that the village was only remnants, plagued by beautiful pyreflies. He shuddered as despair slowly worked its way up his body. Seymour however seemed unfazed.

"I'm going to look for survivors."

The maester scoffed as he removed the necklace, albeit hesitantly. "Suit yourself."

Tidus couldn't even work up an annoyance towards him, though he still seemed a bit sceptical. "That's pretty wrong of you. I mean, using an aeon's belongings as your own?"

He saw his grin and imagined that Seymour was going to give him a snarky response, but before he could they both heard a suffering roar. They turned around just in time to see the serpent rising up from the depths. Using every last ounce of its life-force left, it craned its dissolving neck and hacked up a dark purple glob. It angled towards Kilika before exploding, falling down as acidic rain.

The two of them lurched for shelter before the deadly substance could reach them. They managed to get into the cabin just in time before a wretched sizzling covered the whole of the village. The thriving civilians' dying wails would haunt the guardian's dreams, possibly forever.

* * *

Tidus very slowly disturbed the door to Yuna's room, soullessly letting her know about his presence. He was carrying a couple of potions and a pack of bandages, in which he partially used on himself. He saw his summoner curled up tightly on her bed, her back tensed against the headrest. Her eyes were wide and her breathing ragged.

"I heard everything, Tidus," she sobbed, arms and legs trembling. Her guardian gently seated himself next to her; the misery was plain to see on his face and it only made things more terrible for her. "I even saw it… That awful monster, a—and the village…"

"I know, Yuna," he acquiesced. Tears threatened to fall and his throat felt like it would collapse. The village was gone. Dona, Barthello, all those people… gone. And he let that serpent finish them off. He let this happen. "I know…"

"Tidus?" her voice was nearly non-existent as she reached out to him. In response he looked to her. Something inside of her died at the sight; for the first time, his eyes held pure, broken sadness.

"They were waiting for me… and I let them die," his voice cracked and snapped. He held his head in his hands, unable to bear the shame. "It was all my fault! I thought that fiend was dead, Yuna! They all had to suffer, and all because…"

He was overwhelmed. His crying was now audible, and he could tell that hers was too. In their struggle, their desperation, they held each other tightly. Unlike their shy and innocent one just a few days ago, this was a full, heart-spoken embrace. Emotions were replaced with struggles; and in that moment, as the setting sun began to peek through the parting storm and through the window, they were each other's pillar of strength.


	8. Deceiving Truths

**Chapter VIII**

* * *

As Seymour spent the next few days supposedly sending the deceased, Tidus and Yuna refused to even peep outside. The tragic incident boxed them within the confined corridors and stuffy rooms. A few of the ship's crew also had to tend to her damages caused by the serpent.

They could barely hold themselves together, let alone the ship which was at least thick and sturdy. They either turned to each other for comforting distractions or simmered down in their own privacy. Conversations were either serious or casual; it all depended on what limitless range of topics they stumbled into, now that they had gotten to know each other quite well.

One late afternoon, Tidus had slid into the kitchen to get a pail of water. He set it down on the dining table and made strange patterns with his fingers; he was trying to mimic the miracle that had happened within the cavern. His knuckles went white, frustrated grunts made their escape and forced tears fell, but the water didn't budge.

Until the door swung open.

"Oh goodness, Tidus!" Yuna squeaked as she walked in. Her entry had made him jump and knock the water all over the table and floor. "What were you doing? Are you okay?"

He nodded embarrassedly with a smile, his heart rate dropping only a bit. His fist was aching as he went to pick up the pail. "When those fiends grabbed you, I did… some magic thing with my hands. Then all that water came down on them, right? I was hoping I could do it again, but it ain't working."

She pondered out loud as she searched around for a towel. "Perhaps it was your emotions that triggered it."

"That can happen?"

"Our magical essence flows within our bodies as both a source of life and strength. Learning white magic, for example, can be easier or harder for some," she gave him a glimpse and adorned a sad smile. "But sometimes the strength can come straight from the soul. Maybe my being in danger… gave you a sort of natural power."

He responded with a knowing, tender look. "You could be right. But it's weird! I don't practice all that spontaneous stuff; I use sticks and flint and potions and all. Why did I have all that power pent up inside of me in the first place?"

"I don't know for sure, but… maybe it could be stress. Anything that's crowding your mind with uncertainty, which distracts you from keeping its balance subconsciously. I had a few outbursts during training. Sometimes I just cannot hold it all in, and a burning carpet is what happens."

Tidus chuckled at her last words, but thoughts shrouded him once again. If Yuna's assumptions were correct, then maybe that uncontrollable surge was the result of everything in his life. From his sadness for his broken family to his fears of getting caught with machina. From the situations in his Seeker outlet and Bevelle to his recent angers and trauma. It was all stacking up, waiting to just… burst. And perhaps it was unleashed through his desires for his good friend's safety.

"You're really smart when it comes down to it," he stated. She grinned and thanked him as he took the towel from her. "So why did _you_ come down here?"

Yuna had blotches of pink on her face. Tidus also noticed that the larder was opened partially.

"You're sneak-snacking, aren't cha?" he teased her, raising an eyebrow. "Hey. Once I clean up this mess we could make something together. Nobody else's been making dinner, so we'll take it up and make something that doesn't taste lame for once."

She was a little curious at the request, but it sounded exciting. Just then she felt inclined to help him soak up the spillage. The faster they could get started, the happier.

* * *

The next afternoon was nothing but anguish for Tidus. The ship had departed from Kilika at long last. He and Yuna had worked up the courage to ascend to the deck just to see his hometown. But a watchman delivered terrible news: the storm that had ravaged Kilika had also extended to Besaid, and it was clear to see even from miles away. He bolted from the scene before Yuna could say a word and locked himself away in his bedroom, denying the truth.

He was a shivering mess in a foetal position. Besaid had been ripped apart little by little, and he was completely unaware. He should have known this would happen due to how close the islands were. He should have taken the ship by force and helmed her straight towards it. He should have never let this happen.

His duffel bag was emptied out on the desk beside him. The mirror he had stolen just a month ago was propped up. Even with its tiny face he could see his sickly-pale, wide-eyed, blurry reflection.

'_This has to be a curse,_' he shuddered, reaching a shaking arm out to it. '_If I break this, will it all end?'_

He knew deep down that nothing would change.

He lay on his bed for the rest of the voyage, trying to compose himself for his inevitable acceptance. The acceptance that his one and only home was no more.

* * *

Orders were changed as soon as they hit the shores. Their first priority would be to find any survivors and send any dead bodies, lest the island became infested by ravenous fiends. Seymour went ahead into the jungle, leading another committee of senders. Yuna was shaking inside, but took whatever it could to keep herself together. She needed it in case she unravelled a half-eaten carcass.

"Are you going to be okay?" she whispered to Tidus, knowing his situation.

He was aching inside, and his voice sounded jaded and distant as he delivered an unsure message. He let out a shaky sigh and looked ahead of him. The sacked village was hiding behind some trees, but splatters of black and red foiled the travesty. He took a few steps forward and twisted around to Yuna. He managed a fragile, fake smile.

"I think I need to be alone."

The fluids stuck the sandy cobblestone to his boots as he walked slowly through his village. The place where he grew up and sought to escape from was no longer bustling with liveliness and bonfires. It was now a ghost town. Bodies, spears and debris were strewn everywhere, ashes from rogue fires still lingered in the air… and it was dead silent. Only the temple's exterior, built out of seashells and driftwood, stood proud and unscathed. Compared to everything else around it, it tormented him.

He held back tears as he carried all the wholesome corpses that he could find to the shoreline, setting them in piles. Some of the victims were children and people he recognised: His old playmates; the nurses; the crotchety old woman who would always blame her problems on him…

He stood back and took in the atrocity once he was finished. His emotions ran high and he felt like his throat was burning. He finally turned towards the lighthouse that stood a distance from the island, propped up on boulders and headed by a broken bridge. His family home.

He was praying. Praying soulfully and desperately for the sake of his mother. He dashed across the broken bridge and rammed into the locked door, its rusted hinges failing. He searched almost every floor for her, but she left no trace. The furniture was still intact as well. Maybe, just maybe, the lighthouse's basic defences protected her. She never left her place between the walls. Not since his brother died.

Hope came crashing down again. He realised that there was one more room in which he had never checked, let alone ever entered. He went down to the ground floor and pushed the circular table out of the way, revealing a small trapdoor. He went down the ladder and squeezed through a narrow cobweb-clustered hallway. A wooden door, slightly splintered at the corners, blocked him as soon as he rounded the corner. This was where his brother had shut himself and his research away.

He composed himself for the sight he would most likely confront. But as he opened the door, not even such actions could quell his shrieks.

Slumped on the ground, just in the space under the desk, was his mother's impaled and terrorised body. A tricoloured fiend carcass had its oversized claws lodged into her torso, the fluids from its feet pooling around them and trailing back to the window.

The fabric on his clothing snagged onto stray splinters as he slid down to the floor. He buried his face into his knees, sobbing and screaming for what seemed like hours. The mental scars were torn wider. Why did he choose to face this alone?

After some time he took a deep breath and rose to his feet. Suddenly his surroundings appeared to have lost more of its colour. A wince of pain shot through him as he looked upon the two bodies again; her loosened arms were holding a thin black book, presumably his brother's notes. He also noticed the symbols of the strange language forged onto the wall, as well as a translation reference.

He took some paper and charcoal and held them against the symbols, making a copy. He then pried the fiend's grasp from his mother and took the book. He swung her over his shoulder and made his way down the hallway again. He wanted answers for the past and present, and he had a feeling that these notes held the answer.

* * *

After laying his mother with the rest, Tidus went back to the ship and got the backup drive. He went through the village again, instead taking a detour and heading slightly further into the trees. A rocky, hollow cavern filtered the ocean. He trudged deeper into it, contorting his figure through complicated tunnels until he reached another power station. He flipped to the first page of the notes and laid them on the liquid crystal platform. He proceeded to duck underneath and plug the drive into the port. The station booted up after a few moments.

"Whoa! You don't look so good—"

"Just translate this," he responded briskly, inserting the references into a separate slot. "It's time I got to the bottom of this…"

Geosgaeno was taken back, but quickly did as he was told. An electronic copy of the translated notes appeared on the screen in front of Tidus, which changed with every flick of the page.

'_#076_

_Records for the Analysis of Spiritual and Biological Activity (RASBA)_

_These are the writings of: Shuyin L. – Field: Disease and Antidotes'_

"Here we go," he sighed, turning over the page.

'_May 14__th__, 4558 A.Y._

_A Bevellian vessel came to Besaid today, probably to plan storm shelters for us. My mother was out shopping and my twin brother was probably out consulting with some fish fairies, so I was the only one at the lighthouse. Anyway, I think the guy who came to me was a maester. His impossible hair and clawed hands reminds me of the monsters in horror spheres._

_He kept looking at me funny when we met, like I looked familiar or something. Once he found out my field I was given a jar of this dark fluid and some assortment of magic-forms. He told me to experiment with this "newly-discovered pathogen" and left._

_He's shady, no doubt about it. But I might as well do what I'm told, especially if he's a maester. I think I'll just keep this whole thing secret. They won't like me keeping a sickness in the house, and it's been a while since I published any notes.'_

Tidus scowled, which turned into a disappointed sigh. What had he been thinking, just accepting a possibly deadly substance like that? The description of that man sounded exactly like someone. He rigorously shook his head and continued reading.

'_May 15__th__, 4558 A.Y._

_What on Spira __is__ this?_

_It doesn't matter how much of that dark stuff I use; I look away for a few moments and already it begins to take effect on the other forms! The magical essence goes discoloured, the pyreflies' energy gets overridden and the spontaneous magic… well, there's a big hole in my wall now. And my things have been flown everywhere._

_But still, this potency is unlike any other pathogen I've seen. For it to just affect magic so strongly, and at such a speed…_

_I'm scared to go onwards. I really am. But at the same time I'm just so intrigued! What secrets does this substance hold that makes it envelop such destructive, dominant properties? What caused this to suddenly appear and thrive in somebody's living, functioning organs, if what that maester said was true?_

_All these questions, but what I want is answers! I can't wait until I get in touch with the other researchers again. Could this be a turning point in what we think about our world?_

_Could this even be a completely new form of magic?'_

The next entries confused Tidus as he looked down at the physical notes. There were crossed-out words and thick scribbles all over the pages, but the symbols had begun just normally on the next page. What threw him off was that the writing was more straight and flowing, as if it was part of a drawing. The date was also missing.

'_I think I should give an explanation for all that junk on the previous page: Long story short, the dark liquid got on me and seeped into my skin._

_I was scared for my life, but after maybe an hour and, this is going to sound really strange… I'm thrilled I went through with it!_

_It could be that this liquid heightens the senses and strength; I'm starting to see even the smallest specks of dust on my desk, and pushing back this bulky old chair isn't a problem now. My reflexes are faster, my hands are sturdier… and I feel really superior!_

_Is this really a disease? It feels more like a miracle potion in condensed form. I wonder… if I take up more of this stuff…'_

Tidus was now incredibly curious by this liquid that kept on getting mentioned. He couldn't help but think of those tricoloured fiends whenever it got mentioned, however. Maybe there was a connection.

He quickly read through the rest of the pages, though he became noticeably more disturbed and uncomfortable the further he got. They told of his growing obsession for this dark liquid, and how he shunned their family due to their mother's aggressive concerns. His writings got more and more frantic and unfocussed, sometimes switching from symbols to normal Spiran and vice-versa. He mentioned how his figure began to distort, how angry and hateful he felt… and Tidus knew what day he was referring to.

It was the last time he ever saw his brother in the flesh. He had broken out from his study and lashed at him and their mother with a knife. His skin was a sickly purple-pale. His manic eyes were sunken, and veins were bulging from his arms as he went ballistic. His actions had traumatised their mother, and then he went for him. The knife had been so sharp and rusted that day. His lower leg would never be the same.

Tidus had blocked the memory of that night out of his mind, only now resurfacing. His brother had skewered the last of his charisma after that unforgettable night. Good memories of him were replaced with black, purple and blue. Everything became a lot clearer to him.

The visions almost sent him to his knees. He managed to hold on to the podium and turn to the very last, smudged page. He did not need to look to the screen, for it was already written in the language he knew.

'_I attacked them._

_I crippled him for life._

_I've become an inhumane monster. And we all know what they deserve._

_I never should have listened to that maester, never took in this __disease.__ All it has done is ruin our lives even more than our father did._

_I must absorb the rest of it. I must take every little bit of this tempting, promising, puppeteering parasite and throw it all in the ocean. What better way than through this hole I created?_

_To whoever finds this message: Do not let this dark liquid, this Nightmare, escape into the rest of Spira. For my brother, my mother and Besaid's future… this fiend will have to repent for its sins.'_

* * *

Yuna and Seymour rushed through and searched the cavern; they had heard what they thought were the dwindling wails of pyreflies. What they discovered was not a lonely and dismayed corpse, but a lonely and dismayed person. He was leaning against the podium of a whirring machina, dim blue lights reflecting off of him and the uneven walls. The summoner rushed over to him while the maester cast morbid looks towards the machines.

"Is this what happened to him?" Tidus muttered with his head downcast. His skin felt cold and rigid. His watery eyes clamped shut. "Is that what all those fiends were?"

Yuna could hear and feel him weeping under her. She briefly looked over the notes in the book and glanced at the screen. She wasn't completely sure on what was happening, but she was mortified by the sound of this 'Nightmare'. She wrapped her arms gently around his shoulders, but felt a sharp pain as a clawed hand snatched her away.

"Idiot. Look all around you," Seymour forced her to take in all the screens, wires and generators. "Can you not see that your guardian is a machina worshipper? Or were you really that blind and simple-minded to think otherwise of him?"

She made a noise of protest. She could hear Tidus rising up to his feet behind her.

"I should have known better. No Yevonite in their right mind would ever choose to look like one of those Al Bhed. It all makes sense now: All those fiends and storms were drawn to us by Tidus' putrid sins against Spira. I thought you were trained to dispose of such people."

"Shut up!" the guardian roared at Seymour, stomping towards him and shoving his claws away from Yuna's skin. "**You** did this! You gave that liquid to my brother, and we all had to suffer because of it! Don't even try to make any excuses, you sadistic bastard! All you maesters used that disease, didn't you? Wiping out all the non-believers, turning them into fiends and blaming them on even more non-believers…"

Seymour just laughed at his reddening, betrayed expression. They turned into hisses as he displayed an anger of his own.

"Normally I would have a person turned in for such vile assumptions and insults… but I cannot do such a thing if they are true," his feral grin got wider and his long canines were beginning to show. He shrugged and breathed sarcastic remorse. "But honestly, wouldn't it be better if the non-Yevonites were gone? We're fighting a war for the future of magic, and we must all take a side. Perhaps if your island wasn't so secular we wouldn't have had to target it. You should be grateful I'm not executing you. Come, Yuna."

But she shook off his arm and took some steps back. Her eyes were sparkling with boiling tears as an uncontrollable fury took hold of her. Her clenched fists were beginning to burn and spark with a powerful energy. She told Tidus to go, so he took the drive and the notes and made a run for it. All the while, Seymour couldn't move.

"How could you?" her voice was breaking at the sight of his cruelty. All the maester did was blink.

* * *

Tidus broke into the chamber of the temple; unlike the other times there were no priests to ask for his identity. Valefor's mask hung on a marble pedestal, just in front of another large mandala. He held it in his hands and huffed drawn-out breaths. Reluctantly he held the back to his face. He could hear young, feminine voices coming from it. Finally he put it over his head and pulled over the strap. Heart-stopping chills shot through him, but his adrenaline kept him conscious.

He was in the black void again. He was floating and his insides felt like they had no weight. He stumbled and twisted about until he saw the figure of a young teenaged girl. She had short scarlet hair and a primarily red dress, with golden sleeves and violet wings. She had his back turned to him. He strode forwards and called out to her. She flinched when she did so, and turned around to look him dead in his eyes.

Her rounded face was sweet, but seemed to have lost all innocence. Her completely red eyes were sparkling with tears as her eyebrows arched. A sharp sibilance tried to escape her lips, but she clamped them shut as she began to choke.

"You're not him. You can't be him."

She began to run away into the void, as fast as her little brittle legs could manage. Tidus pursued. Her speed was puny compared to his, and in no time at all she was cowering under his strong, demanding gaze.

"Who are you? Where am I? Who's this 'him'?"

She stopped her shivering, took in a non-existent breath of air and raised her head to meet his, trying to match his intensity.

"I am Valefor. The rest isn't for you to know."

He could have been fearful from being in the presence of a god. At the same time he could have been in awe. Or curious. Or simply annoyed by her staunch words and lack of manners. But instead… he was angry. A desperate, pleading kind of angry. Heartbreak.

"Why did you let this happen?" he began quietly, stepping away from her. "You and the other aeons… you were with us all this time? And yet you refused to protect us from all those fiends, and everything we've went through?"

She stammered and faltered.

"Did you all make those storms all around Spira? All those fiends, all that destruction and killing and scheming, and you just let it happen?!"

She was beginning to cry and whimper again. "It's not like that. Please…"

Tidus shook his head. What was he thinking? Did he really think that lone objects sealed within dusty rooms were going to protect them all? He was just blinding himself. Perhaps these aeons were suffering just as much as everyone else; they didn't want to be helpless, unable to take action and stand up for the wrongs in life. He was in the same position as him.

"I lost my old man to a storm, my mother to a fiend and my brother to this mutating disease that's been going around. Instead of being an adventurer, I've just been on the run because of my machina. I've learned that the maesters are corrupt, and that a girl I— is being strung along and having horrible beliefs beaten into her head by them. We're both being held prisoner by one. He's got Ifrit and Ixion, and he's going to get you too."

They were both tearing up at this point. She gasped at the mention of their names and begged for a resolution.

"Valefor, I might be unworthy and the total opposite of a Yevonite, but… I just wanna make everything right. If it's not the aeons' fault, it has to be someone's. I want to know the reason for all our suffering. And maybe we can all find out together.

I think I'm the only one who can speak to you anyway. So I'm not gonna let this go to waste."

By the end of his speech he could feel heavy wings constricting him. He yelped at the barrage of force. Valefor began to mumble into his chest.

"Believe me when I say that it's not our doing, and that we want peace just as much as Spira does. But please understand that we all know exactly why, but… I cannot tell you until I'm _completely_ certain that you are him. If I tell the wrong person, then…"

"What? Why not?"

She made a little sob. "Maybe you are him, but I can't judge on looks alone! Please, have him be found. Find yourself. We'll tell you then, but the least you can do right now is protect us. Make sure this maester doesn't harm my family. If even one of them is lost…"

He nodded a guardian's promise. He saw a pale hand closing in on him from the darkness. Valefor seemed to want him to stay, but the hand's strength surpassed her own. She crumpled to the nothingness.

* * *

Tidus was sprawled out in the village's centre when Yuna snapped him out of his vision. She was kneeling down beside him, Valefor's mask clutched in her hands. He saw that her hands and face were scarred and slightly burnt. She was holding the back of his head.

"Yuna… I spoke to Valefor," he muttered, chuckling in stupor. "I'm not mad in the head. You gotta believe me."

Up and down went her head, biting her lower lip. "You were talking out loud about wanting Spira's peace."

"And about my family. And that I use machina," he swallowed a lump, for some reason expecting that she would actually be disgusted by him. He took the time to fret over her injuries. "I guess Seymour was more powerful than you thought."

"Actually he tried to destroy all that machina. I wanted to stop him, but he got so, so angry. And then…" she choked on her words as he stared up at her softly. "I can't believe how evil he is. And I looked up to him for so long. I wanted to atone for… for not listening to you. And now that you mentioned machina…"

"Yuna, don't be sorry—"

"Tidus, I can't hide it any longer," her face began to flush. "I'm… I'm half-Al Bhed."

He had known for quite some time. But hearing her spoken words, he knew. He knew that Yuna was much stronger than Seymour or any other maester could ever be. She gave him the strength to sit up and look her deeply in her unique eyes: sparkling blue and energetic green.

"Don't be sorry. Whatever comes at us from now on, I _will_ protect you. I promise."

The bellowing smoke and embers from the cavern didn't distract them. From then on, they would believe in each other. For their sake and Spira's.


	9. Let Me Teach You

**Chapter IX**

* * *

A change of routine was established by Tidus and Yuna: Avoid Seymour as much as possible.

It took almost a month for them to return to Bevelle, and in the meantime Seymour made Yuna's summoning training deliberately more stressful. She would come out brittle to the bone, and Tidus would have to carry her to her chambers and make another trip down to the medical ward. Both their legs would be aching by the end of the day, but at least it guaranteed them some time together. Nothing else seemed to work, as he would be shooed away from his summoner afterwards.

So it came as a lovely surprise that, after the long and near-fatal expedition, Seymour had Tidus banished from the council mansion and the temple for his inappropriate behaviour, until after the Gauntlet. Seymour had also demanded his imprisonment on the grounds that he was a machina worshipper, but the lack of evidence coupled with Auron's opposing vote let him get off free. He went back to the outlands where his ship was, and Yuna would always visit him whenever she was off-duty.

At first he was unsure on whether or not to introduce Yuna to Geosgaeno, but then he remembered her lineage. She had been baffled by the possibility of a talking ship, but she soon grew to be appealed and very friendly towards him. Tidus held a close eye on the defence mechanisms and discouraged any sectarian remarks. But even he was impressed and touched by Yuna's chipper and upbeat attitude towards the ship, and how he was starting to warm up to her as well.

"Maybe she's not so bad after all," Geosgaeno had fallen back to Tidus. He just grinned and gave him a confident nod.

One day, Yuna had prepared a boxed lunch for them both. They both sat in the little muddy den they had made, shaded from the sunlight, talking and laughing amongst each other.

"So why'd you think that all my machina was magic?" Tidus asked with a genuine infliction, making holes in the meatballs with his skewer. Yuna just laughed.

"Well, they're all decorative and pretty harmless, so I just assumed they were 'normal'. Bevelle always told me that all machina was weapons of warfare and killing, which are illegal and against our morals. But then again, Bevelle also told me that all Al Bhed carried these weapons…"

His eyes softened and he let out a sad sigh. He scootered closer to her and lowered his voice. "Yuna, what about your parents? Or your relatives?"

"I never met my mother or any other Al Bhed. All my father said to me was to keep my lineage secret," she turned towards him slightly and lifted her head, displaying a sad smile. "But you know what he also said? To be proud of myself. He said that… Al Bhed are wonderful, talented people, and I shouldn't let anyone tell me otherwise."

"And you're having doubts about that?" he guessed. She gave him a reluctant movement and some stammers. "Well, you know what? You're the only Al Bhed I've ever met in the flesh, and I think he's right."

She blushed, giggled and gave him a playful shove. She smiled and looked down at her outstretched hands. "These Al Bhed, who create all this machina with their own sweat and blood… I wonder if I can do it as well. Climbing high, running fast, inventing wonders… Tidus, forgive for saying this, but I envy your sportiness at times."

"I think your life in Bevelle is just holding back your other side," he pepped. "If you want I can teach you all the skills I know."

She gasped excitedly. "Really?"

"Yeah! We have trees, the sea and a big ol' ship to practice on," he set aside the box and stretched out his hand to her. "It'll be a lot of fun for us. Let's free the Al Bhed inside of you, whaddya say?"

A light twinkled in her eyes. To explore and express her inner self alongside him, without the derisive glares from the maesters, the bickering over her self-mage or the turmoil over her studies… It would just be them, in this tiny little marsh, isolated on an isthmus. She wouldn't want anything else.

* * *

'_In dire times, have faith. Faith will reflect the path.'_

After lots of eyestrain and error, Tidus finally figured out the vague message on the mirror's handle. It was with no surprise that he wasn't amused by the anti-climax, especially after all the troubles and the lingering pain he had to endure. He sighed and put it and the references into his belt satchel, lying down on his bed.

He expected Yuna's arrival in around half an hour. The past while had her experiencing what it truly meant to be a survivor. He had adorned sticks and leaves and pretended to be her jungle predator. They had pretended to be stranded on a cliff with no transmittance. They had even pretended to infiltrate a fortress full of lost treasures (which had frequent earthquakes and a loudmouthed ghost haunting it). And she loved it. She would always express it when she had to leave, and she would start coming earlier and earlier each day. He felt a tingly feeling in his gut from just thinking about it.

She was a natural learner, and he really admired that. Her eagerness, her good sense of humour and her bravery ignited thoughts and unknown feelings within him. He lolled his head around as he scanned his room, devising what they could be doing tonight when he heard a sharp and shrill whistle.

He didn't expect her to come down so soon, but he wasn't complaining. He went up to the deck and saw her waving. Her clothing looked less restrictive and she stood more upright. He waved back, unsure how these changes managed to bypass the maesters' judgement.

"Hey!" she called out. She quickly caught herself and gave him a more formal greeting.

"Man, I… I didn't think you'd be here so soon. I haven't even figured out what we should work on," he sheepishly rubbed his head. Talk about attitude reversal. "Well, just come inside for now. We'll get eased in and then decide."

But she didn't move. Tidus' ship had drifted a few metres from the shore and was now in the deep end. She was rooted to her spot, darting eyes fixated on the ocean in front of her. He caught Yuna's helpless expression.

"Um… Actually, I don't know how to swim," she whispered shamefully. "Could you help me get on?"

"I have a better idea," he displayed a toothy grin, which cheered her up a little. "I'll teach you how to."

He could hear a distasteful groan, and he quickly smacked the side of the ship to silence it. He dived off of the deck and streamed over to her, circling her before rising to meet her face. Her lips said it all, but she also appeared scared. He gave her a comforting smile, taking her hands in his and leading her out to the water.

"Let's start with the basics," he acquiesced. "See, swimming's all about arm-leg coordination. You gotta time 'em to your movements and make sure nothing's restricting 'em…"

But throughout the session they didn't have an intent focus on the lesson. Through all the kicking, streaking and diving she was distracted by his security and he by her gentleness. Through all her fumbles, inexperience and fatigue she would wind up in his arms for some short seconds. Every time she did she would feel that familiar spark in her gut… and he would as well.

They had not had any contact like this since the incident on Kilika. And though it was not needed, they felt somewhat deprived from the lack of heat and proximity. After everything they went through they found it hard to stay a large distance away from each other.

Unlike every other meeting of theirs however, they were not under the stress of a maester, a cosmic veil or the scent of death. They were in their own little world with nothing but peace, lavender dusk and muddy foam to taint each other's beauty. They could not pry their eyes from each other. And for the first time in what seemed like ages, they cracked real, truthful, meaningful smiles.

They sat by the bank in front of their little den afterwards, on a familiar white blanket. Yuna was visibly panting from all the swallowed water and excessive heat. Tidus was leaning on his arms, staring at her with a tiny crook in his lips. He took a singular deep breath and spoke:

"You're really good at this."

She flushed and let out a breathless laugh.

"Not as good as you."

She groaned and grasped her temple, feeling a numbing headache coming on. He eased her upper half into his lap. They bathed in the silence, watching the darkening sky as they recollected themselves. She was almost lulled to sleep, but her muscles tensed with musings. He sensed this and looked down upon her.

"Thank you, Tidus. For everything."

He chuckled and looked away to fight back a goofy grin.

"I mean it." she lifted her head with an intense stare. "The truth is… I never wanted to be a summoner at all. I didn't even want to be important, or any part of the church. I want to be an adventurer of the whole world. Just like you and my father. But then he retired, moved us to Bevelle… and I was so weak anyway. I wouldn't have lasted a day on the sea back then."

He was moved by her bold honesty. He turned towards her and brushed some strands of hair away from her glistening gaze. He kept quiet as she spilled out her feelings.

"But you gave me strength. I think everything did, actually. All the troubles and pain in my life, and now the church is squabbling. But am I really strong enough? I… I feel like life under Seymour's arm is too much for me. And years and years of summoning studies before I can choose my own life, but still be under rule from Yevon… I hope I don't sound selfish."

"You? Selfish?" he couldn't believe what she was saying. He gently took her by the shoulders. "You deserve better than whatever they're doing to you! So you know what I'm doing? I'm making sure you get some fresh air away from this mangy turf."

"Together?"

"Next lesson'll be helming the ship," he declared quietly. "Besides… I like having you as my crew. You make us a lot happier."

They stared at each other with a silent passion. The spark ignited in Yuna's gut again. But rather than stopping it continued to bloom throughout her insides, filling her with blissful warmth. She was overcome with light air as she felt rapid pulses within her. Her whole body felt like molten rock.

She only snapped out of her state when she noticed how dark it had gotten. Tidus helped her get dried up and sent her on her way. Before she vanished with the foliage she turned and gave him a small wave, which he reciprocated. Aimlessly he crumpled up the blanket and stumbled back onto his ship, with Geosgaeno making devilish noises. He smacked the wall once again and cooped up for the night, unable to shake off the thoughts.

* * *

The walk back to the council mansion was time-consuming, so much so that Yuna could barely see the road any more. But she felt like if she went any faster, the heat would consume her body and the stack of emotions would topple down onto her. She sighed contently and conjoined her fingers as she entered the courtyard. Even the golden chocobos waltzing around were beginning to paint images of him.

'_I have to tell him,' _she curved her lips, but shyness shot through her as well. She approached the doors and very slowly opened them. '_Maybe after the Gauntlet.'_

Her feet hit wooden floorboards. She shut the doors to suppress the breeze.

'_I've never felt like this before.'_

The corridor was silent, save for the creaks.

'_I wonder if he feels the same.'_

Ghostly white hands lunged for her from behind a column. Her startled cries were muffled from the rough, piercing grasp. Before she could make a struggle another hand smothered her face with a cloth. Her mind slowed to a halt as her muscles and nerves ceased to work, and she collapsed against her attackers.

She was on the brink of consciousness, and everything from then on was a blur. She could feel herself being dragged up and bruised on stairs. She was flung onto a platform in an unknown place, bound by chains and sashes. Harsh spits and whispers and laughs were ringing in her ears. A green liquid was poured over her head, and she regained her senses. She screamed internally at the sight.

"Yuna… it is time. At long last."

Seymour was closing in on her, arms behind his back. He had a maniacal and malicious grin on his veiny face. In the background she could see all the other maesters and authority figures staring at her with soulless, manipulative eyes. Except for Auron, who appeared ashamed and full of pity. She blurted out questions, but a clawed hand hushed her.

"Now, now. You know that you belong to me, and such impatience is unacceptable. Allow me," he turned around to the rest of the crowd, Yuna still squirming under his hand. "Gentlemen. It is with delight I announce that, with Lady Yuna's full custody, the revolution is now underway. I promise you all a prosperous future in tribute of the almighty Yu Yevon."

A cacophony of cheers flooded the room. Auron lied through his claps, Mika wheezed with joy and Seymour spurted out an animalistic laugh, motioning them to keep quiet as he cleared his throat.

"Of course, there is still some time before the Gauntlet. And by then we will have to sort out our… other council guardian," Yuna went wide-eyed. He removed his hand as he rose up to her personal space. "I don't think he belongs in our little circle, Yuna. Which is why I will ask you to… lead him on, as they say. We will take care of the rest."

Bitter tears ran down her face. She fluctuated in her captivity. "You wouldn't. I wouldn't do anything to him or do anything for _you!_ I belong to nobody in this church but my father!"

"Your father?" Seymour crooked his long neck with a snide infliction. A demeaning chuckle escaped him as he stared her down. "My flower… Your father is never coming back."

More tears fell. Her fists wanted to break the shackles. "What did you do to him?!"

Seymour stood aside and left his arms lingering in the air, as if encouraging them to mock her obliviousness. More laughs sounded. Some even knocked over the miniscule amounts of furniture. It was then she saw it. Purple flitting across nearly all of the audience's eyes. She felt an intense anger and betrayal. She wanted to break free and run off into the night.

Seymour's expression contorted for a second. He glared at the rest and, surprisingly, they all stopped laughing immediately. He carefully yet slowly set her free, painfully pulling her off of the platform and seizing her by the hands.

"Let's discuss our plans, shall we?" a furled grin was plastered onto his impression. "This is always my favourite part."

As she was trawled into the circle of corruption, she pleaded to the ones above. For his life.


	10. The Bevelle Gauntlet

**Chapter X**

* * *

The last few days had Yuna requesting very strange actions of Tidus and Geosgaeno, such as reading out loud an excerpt from a novel or getting them involved in very peculiar small talk. And before they could even ask why, she was already 'late' for an important meeting or appointment. Never once did she mention the lessons that they were supposed to have every day.

And she felt horrible for it.

Her face was grim once she was out of their sight. She had made off with some trivial evidence: some threads from her guardian's vest and a sputter of petrol from the engine room. In the distance she could hear the other spies rustling around and complaining in the boiling bushes. From behind where she stood she could hear Tidus sigh to himself. His voice was disheartening.

"Yuna's been acting so weird lately…"

There was a nearby slumping noise followed by distorted grunts.

"She's prob'bly fine. Just saving herself for cheering you on in that Gauntlet thing," the ship remarked. "It's a big burden on you, you know? 'Fate of the aeons' and all that."

"But she's not smiling, Geos! She hardly talks, doesn't stay for long and we haven't had—" his breath hitched. There was a mud splatter and a faint line of gold crawled up between the plants. "S—she's not getting sick of me, is she?"

"Uh… Well, you did spend tons of time together…"

'_Anything but, Tidus,' _she could barely see the ship's blue light focussing and shifting toward her position. She made a quick yet quiet retreat deeper into the jungle, her whole body depressed. She wanted to sprint back to him, reveal her dilemma and cry her heart out to him; doing so would only make the pain swell up more, as if Seymour's plans weren't already indescribable in their morbidities.

The spies had already gone back to the meeting point. Dejected and trembling a little, she took the same route. In a tiny clearing completely separate from the maze of trees, just at the face of the cliffs was where they met up. Council authorities were grumbling and muttering amongst themselves, reporting the unknown voice and its conversations when Yuna was forced to present the evidence.

The leader sighed heavily at the useless proof. "Lady Yuna, I don't think these look mechanical. Or deadly."

"Sir, I've scouted out everything and Tidus doesn't have any machina in his household, nor is associated with the Al Bhed," she fibbed, standing straight under the pressure of the others' eyes. "The 'metal' on his ship is layered paint to reflect the heat. That other voice is a bedridden crew member. Everything else is magic and decoration. This is harmless polyester and a near-empty bottle of ink."

He swirled the 'ink' around clumsily, still glaring at the summoner.

"So you see, Sir, we cannot really turn him in for machina usage. We just can't go on words alone, so what will—"

"Sir, look! The ink!"

One of the authorities pointed at the blotch which spilt from the bottle. The exposure to the sunlight made multi-coloured patterns gleam from it and emanate a strange smell. Everyone turned back to her, snickering and scowling. Yuna's blood ran cold.

"This Tidus must be an interesting guy, using bombs to write papers," the leader curled his lips upwards. "It doesn't matter what you say. Maester Seymour wants him out of the way no matter what, so I'll just have to see for myself. I praise he who invented internment."

She glared at the ground and tensed up her fists. The small group shoved her forward onto the path toward the city. Noises were ringing in her ears and her eyes stung with defeated tears. Along the way a missing authority stumbled onto their path. He was covered in mud and had a wide, malicious grin.

* * *

The next day, Tidus was sauntering down the golden road with his sword on his shoulder and a contestant sash around him. Crowds on the way to the arena parted to let him through, more than a few whispering in spite at his appearance. He felt uncomfortable and nervous the whole way, but kept his demeanour strong and determined. Once at the gates he turned to a specific opening, holding the sash's seal to the force-field to pass through.

He seated himself on the floor above, sneaking glances outside from his room. The arena was really just cross-sectioned walls that surrounded the temple, with sandy floors and obstacles dotted everywhere. Stands with colourful banners and flames housed floods of spectators, the higher-quality seating reserved for the council representatives. Three more balconies hung from the temple. Above them was a larger opening displaying two elaborate thrones, which he guessed belonged to Seymour and Yuna.

He sighed to himself, watching as the regal seats were steadily occupied by pompous men in flamboyant robes. He pulled the curtains over and went to wash up, hoping the streams of hot water would rinse away his tension and unease.

But yesterday's situation was creeping back to him in the form of a gnawing ache in his throat. It hung in his chest, his mind was going dark and he was trembling with unworthiness. He hadn't felt like this since he saw his mother's body. He squeezed his eyes shut. Yuna's image flashed through his mind. Smiling, running around and as carefree as ever.

"Are you getting tired?" his words were almost inaudible. Words he was used to saying, but now…

He sat in the lounge for a while, polishing his beloved blade and trying to ignore the obnoxious announcers outside. He peeked through the curtains for just a bit, and saw people parading around with banners that had the _eye sigil—_ He tossed the curtains back together again, chills running through him at an inhuman pace. He already saw it in his nightmares – he certainly didn't need its presence now.

The mindless noise wasn't going to cease. He couldn't lock himself in the shower again; the droplets drowned out everything with their own cacophony of amplification. All he wanted was peace. Solitude all to his own. How he took it for granted.

He was in for a surprise when the announcers finished their hammy introductions and a flurry of guards burst into his quarters. They practically dragged him out and through the gaping corridors along with the other contestants. He was flung into the middle section of the arena, which the booming voices called a 'free-for-all grading ground'.

Depending on their performances in combat, each fighter would be marked with different levels of 'priority'. Defeating one of high priority would give you many points, and the other end of the spectrum was self-explanatory. Simply attacking them would not get them all of the points, however; they had to completely render them unconscious for that. Between pairing off opponents with roughly the same skills, short breaks between rounds and some basic rules of conduct, the aim was simple: whoever had the most points at the end of each of the three rounds won an aeon's artefact.

As he looked all around him, Tidus could see why they needed this balancing system. Some of his rivals were dangerously scrawny and could barely hold their weapons. But a pretty good portion consisted of incredibly experienced mercenaries and arch-mages, obsessed with their techniques to the point where they embodied their lifestyles. He recognised some of the faces from advertisements and brands.

He took a deep breath. The sun was moulding sheens of sweat on him. He only knew swordplay to the point of protection; he never liked to mindlessly slaughter like the fiends which also plagued his nightmares. Yet he had to win. For the aeons. To thwart whatever Seymour was scheming.

He looked up at the two thrones with concern. Seymour and Yuna hadn't appeared at all…

Deafening blasts and cheers made him almost leap out of his skin. Thunderbolts and steel were already advancing on each other, while the underbuilt amateurs stood rooted to their spots. He just looked all around him, his blade almost slipping from his fingers. He was bewildered… terrified. A ruthless, disharmonious battleground.

And they were _cheering._

He heard sickly screams from his left. One of the mercenaries was charging towards one of the amateurs with the want to maim him. Something within him propelled him to shield the poor boy. He dived in front of him and used his liquid blade to stall the steel one. He glared into the significantly larger warrior's eyes with a look of pleading as he stood his ground. To Tidus' confusion, the warrior took in his appearance, blinked… and then scowled, lowering his blade and storming off.

He rubbed at his head, and then turned around to get a look at the boy. Underneath his tattered hood were strands of sandy hair and wide, strangely-patterned green eyes. His exposed legs were rattling and he was breathing heavily.

"You all right?"

"E-E-Ed lyhhud pa!" the boy whimpered in his foreign tongue, his jaw agape. His rusty sword fell to the ground. "Ouin vyla..."

Tidus made a noise and quickly stepped back. He noticed that the similarly-dressed men were giving him the same baffled expression and uttering sharp, incomprehensible syllables. The experienced fighters witnessed with fatigue how they meekly approached them, and the crowd noticed the commotion as well.

"What's this? It seems that the man with the water sword and the filler fighters are forming a herd!" one of the announcers declared in a mocking tone, prompting many of the audience to laugh. "What an ingenious strategy! Go for the lambs while the lions are fighting!"

Tidus growled lowly and turned back to the mass of admiring Al Bhed. He knew very little about the language, but got up close to them so that the boisterous onlookers couldn't hear. "E femm hud rind oui. Tu hud rind. Pa lmuca du sa."

They seemed to get the idea despite his botched pronunciation, but they were soon squealing again and hid behind his wide frame. He turned back around and came face-to-face with the army of swordsmen and magicians. They had anger etched into their faces, and flames were dancing around some of them.

"Hogging all the easy points to yourself, you brown freak?" one of them panted, his skin mangled with cuts and burns. He held his steel-tipped club in his palm.

Tidus seethed, deeply offended by his distasteful words. He stretched his arms out from his sides. "Is that all these people are to you? Points?"

A blaring horn sounded, signalling the end of the free-for-all. Everyone groaned as they were violently ushered to the centre of the circle. Standing on the circular platform, they were all about to be given their bounties before a short break. The judges were, of course, the maesters and higher council representatives.

The experienced fighters were given bounties of ten to fifteen points. Tidus was given five and the Al Bhed… twenty.

"It's not efficient to let the more powerful contestants waste their energy on each other!" Mika had explained. "Since our established high-priority didn't put up an effort to fight, and instead relied on evasion techniques, this would force them to summon their courage and fight! Isn't it poetic?"

Auron appeared from behind him and merely cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were supposed to let–"

"Fool! Hush!"

"Maester Mika," Tidus called, stepping forward with a gurn on his face. The other fighters, including the trembling Al Bhed, cast glares at him. "I have another idea. Hear me out."

He sucked in cold air through his teeth as almost the entire arena went silent.

"I volunteer to take all of the high-priorities' positions," he declared. Gasps were heard in parts of the auditorium. Mika's eyes were bulging. "But only if you let them leave the Gauntlet."

"Inconceivable! C-Council Guardian, this would mean you would be worth a hundred and sixty-five points! Your defeat would guarantee a fighter's victory!" Mika wheezed. While he was going ballistic, Auron came up to him again and whispered into his ear. The elderly man fell quiet and slowly turned back to Tidus. The audience was starting up again. "Do you… have a meaning behind your choice, perhaps?"

For the Al Bhed's forgotten right to safety? Because he couldn't stand bloodshed and death? He had to be careful with his words. One slip-up could end their innocence.

"This is a sacrifice. A single person risking his life to defend or help others. I'd think a maester, and Bevelle altogether, would realise that a man's life is worth less than two. Look at them, Mika. They're not born to fight. They should be given chances for a different life rather than forcing swords into their hands…"

Partially speaking from the heart and partially romanticising his words, surely he would have won the argument. Mika was about to predictably dig into his eardrums with nasally opposition, but Auron whispered to him again. He nodded and exclaimed, his normally dark eyes shining with realisation. He turned back to Tidus with a devilish grin.

"Your purity flourishes through your martyrdom! Truly you proved your devotion to Yu Yevon's ways! Very well. May the eight high-priority fighters be led out of the arena, please? Their values will be transferred to the 'Sacrifice'. I say, we should make something like this an official rule for the following Gauntlets…"

Mika continued to ramble on as the Al Bhed were rounded up and provoked toward the exits. The rest of the fighters were eyeing Tidus hungrily. The boy he had rescued earlier was running toward him. He looked him in the eyes, beaming a sweet yet decayed smile.

"Dryhg oui, Cyjeuin! E ghaf oui fuimt yhcfan so bnyoanc!"

He smiled back, not having a clue what he said.

* * *

The judges couldn't help but feel remorse for how much of a target Tidus was, so to compensate he would get twenty points for each of the experienced fighters he felled. He wondered how they were going to keep track of everyone's score for how much the rules had been distorted. The rest of the tournament went surprisingly well for Tidus; despite being the round-decider his agility and prowess outwitted the heavy blades and flashy spells, and he got in a few hits on the ones whose exhaustion overwhelmed them.

It was late afternoon when the tournament finally ended. The fighters were all taken to the temple interior to cool off while the scores were calculated. Tidus, uncomfortable under the constant fiery gazes, decided to go for a walk to get his bearings straight. It was then he was drawn to a faint blue glow reflecting off the walls.

It was the strange statue that Seymour had shown him. The glyphs embroidered into it shone brightly with mystery. Something in his mind sparked and flew to the front. Seeing that there was no security, he got out his translation references and a pen. He tore off some white cloth from the walls and began to decipher the symbols.

'_Land of Spira, I come crashing down to you with a message:_

_I am Iutycyr, Tower of Life. I come to you with a plea for help._

_The deity whom you call Yu Yevon has poisoned me with his dark magic. I am crumbling apart and I am unwillingly tearing rifts between our dimensions. Even now his maternal abominations are laying their destructive spawn from me. They take on the form of stormy weather and fiends, falling through the rifts to spread his dark magic through your world._

_If the dark magic is not suppressed – if the rifts are not sealed up and the abundance ceased – I will become nothing but rubble. Your world would be crushed under mine because I would not be there to support mine._

_You must help me. You must re-awaken the aeons from their prisons. You must believe me.'_

The guards finally found Tidus, having been looking for him for a long time. He silently obliged to their commands and kept walking forward, unblinking eyes dead set on the winding tunnels.

He was waiting just behind one of the three balconies' openings, only listening out for his name in Mika's never-ending droning, when static blasted into his ear. He tried to hide his wince and walked to the far end of the room where nobody was standing.

"_Tidus, Tidus— for crying out goddamn loud, can you hear me?!"_

He grunted. He felt something cold drop down into his gut. Geosgaeno sounded desperate. He could faintly hear masculine yells and crackling in the background.

"_Yevonites found me! They've ripped out my boilers and hacked off my sail and—no… No! __**Tidus, help—"**_

The signal was cut off.

He didn't even need to hear Mika call out his name; he rushed out to the balcony anyway. Far off in the south, on the edge of the outlands, were billowing black clouds and flickers of orange. He froze completely. Even his heart refused to thump against his chest.

Beside him, Mika let the same devilish grin creep up onto his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our first winner is none other than Tidus: the council guardian and the very special martyr who so bravely yet humbly 'sacrificed' himself for the fortune of others! Yes, yes, I take in your cheers and instead raise to you a revelation about this young man here today. You see… I met him in the face of Bevelle's peril; believing him to be a blessing, a light in the darkness of our losses. And it is with great triumph, and some common sense, that he is…"

Tidus was seized by the powerful grips of the guards, twisting his arms and holding him up in the air like a skinned animal. They dug into his pouches and snatched up every last object while Mika turned on him.

"…none other than a masquerading traitor! He has thieved from the remains of ancient civilisations, secretly embraces the ways of machina and is a malignant threat to all of Spira! His grave sins draw the unspeakable darkness that conquers our world! Can you see the black smoke, way off in the distance? That is the hideous demon known as a machina ship, being set ablaze with holy fire!"

"That's not true! The Tower of Life is being attacked by the darkness which Yu Yevon is controlling, and I have proof—"

"Do you hear? This heretic is clearly wrong in the head. A mind deformed by delusion!"

As the maester dismissed him, the guards threw Tidus against the railings and started bludgeoning him. The sputtered blood fell onto the completely speechless audience. His vision was going blurry. With his head turned sideways he saw Seymour and Yuna emerging from the balcony above. He clutched her to his side with the most sinister and victorious grin. She was weeping and trembling at the state of her guardian.

"Forgive me…" she was openly sobbing now. The clawed hand was punctured into her to the point where she couldn't move.

The terrible sight ignited fresh hatred within Tidus. He wanted to lash out and kill Seymour, quickly yet painfully.

"Now, now, dear. There is no need to cry," came his sickeningly fake words as he looked down at his captive. He took a breath and looked out to the massive gathering. "For the Lady Yuna and I announce our engagement. We are set to be wed in two months' time, starting tomorrow. We and the council hope that you look forward to it. Guards, if you please…"

The audience was still speechless. Yuna was still crying. Before everything went black, Tidus swore a vow to himself: To put an end to Seymour's scheme.


	11. Dragged Underground

**Chapter XI**

* * *

Tidus felt a numbing ache on the back of his head when he came to. He also felt the precise pain of punctures on his forearms. He was trapped within padded walls which smelled like burning plastic. A guard dressed in corroded armour swung open the cell door. It was then Tidus noticed that his sword was nowhere to be found.

"It's about time," the guard growled bitterly. He set down a dirty tray and sent it skidding across the stone floor. "Eat your food. Now."

His stomach churned at the excuse that was the meal. It looked less like pork and more like a clump of crudely dyed gelatine. The milk looked like it was more than a decade old. He had enough time to scrunch up his nose before his spine made contact with the grit.

"You should learn to be grateful, princess. The Al Bhed out there have to survive on bugs," the guard snapped, lifting his iron-clad boot from the prisoner's stomach. His pained eyes snapped open from the familiar name. He was about to leave Tidus with the toxic gunk before he managed to rise to his feet.

"I think I lost my appetite."

The guard sighed- almost moaned- heavily. "Fine. But don't go whining when you're almost dead."

He was forced out of the cell and led down a dark, winding hallway. In the ambience were sounds of brisk metallic clanging, seething steam pipes and wailing hymns. Channels of murky brown and crimson water were dimly lit by lanterns. The frostbite enveloped his body and festered at his bruises. The constant echoing thumps of their boots were only worsening his headache.

Two chained doors emerged from the black mist after a long while. After the guard unlocked them he was quickly shoved inside.

"Salvage the best pieces of scrap metal from the wreckage inside. Put them in a separate pile."

After the doors were slammed shut he took time to register his surroundings. He was standing within a gargantuan pen, with a labyrinth of balconies and stairways surrounding him. Spitting images of the guard were peering down at the wreckage, some talking loudly amongst themselves. He tentatively strode toward the heap in mind when all eyes were locked onto him. He tried his best to ignore the pressure as he inspected the shapeless, shattered carcasses of titanium:

Scrapes of blue paint; remnants of minimalistic, forged furniture; four stories high, including the—

A long, narrow bow and wings hanging off of the stern. All of his reflexes jumped up to his throat.

He just about managed to slap his arm over his mouth. Internally screaming his ship's name inside his head, he dove inside one of the openings and began rummaging around for the master control panel's safe. He began to wish with every fibre of his being that the main chips weren't damaged.

He eventually found it somewhere near the bottom. The safe itself was cracked open, the backup drive was smashed into pieces… but the main chips were miraculously intact; their coating was damaged somewhat but the components were unscathed. He thought that the Yevonites may have most likely not seen them. Fortunately shielded from the witnesses' eyes because of the high walls, he took the tiny hardware and hid them in his trousers.

He began to collect a heap full of durable, shiny metals. The state of his former dwelling filled his aching head with sorrowful, empty thoughts. Even Geosgaeno's ear-assaulting complaining would be a welcome sound at this point. He imagined what Yuna's expression would look like in front of his disgraceful predicament.

And honestly, if Yuna was in front of him right now, he wouldn't care about his surroundings at all.

After what felt like hours of labour, he stood back to take in the salvage. It brought back memories of the corpse mountain on his hometown's beach, though this time there were no spiralling pyreflies to veil the solemnity. Just a cold, hard truth: He lost his house, his freedom and his summoner to a bunch of plotting madmen. It sickened him, made him feel powerless under Yevon's eye.

He could feel that venomous hatred boiling within him until a shrill bell shot through his heart. More guards came in with a brittle cart and commanded him to load the junk heap onto it. His arms were nearly falling off afterwards, but it got even worse when he had to trudge the cart through another exit and down another winding hallway. He swore that his skin was going to shrivel up and peel off from all the sweating and heaving.

He careened through the last set of doors as his muscles finally gave up on him. The guards bellowed behind him, commanding everyone to dump their scrap in the middle and announcing a ten-minute break and causing a long, droning frequency in his ears. He shivered when the slammed doors sent an ominous breeze past him. He took a few seconds to regain himself before taking the cart and limping to the centre, thankful that his prosthetic was still going strong.

From the edges of the foyer he could feel the stares of unblinking, wide pairs of eyes. Dozens. Hundreds, even. All immobile, with just the swinging lanterns to illuminate their spiral pupils and emerald colour. A few of them were whispering amongst themselves in their unique language. The pressure, the sheer realisation that everyone was watching him and judging him with merciless stares sapped Tidus of all his strength.

He felt like he would faint and the coppery rust would eat him alive. Confident, heavy footsteps strode toward him. He managed to look up into his helper's face: his head was bald; he had bushy golden eyebrows and the spirals in his eyes had faded with age. The man gave him a gentle, crooked smile before lifting him to his feet. Another man with a goldenrod Iroquois and tattoos all over his body began to push the cart from behind. He looked at Tidus with a determined gurn.

"Fa femm dyga lyna uv drec."

Tidus exclaimed confusedly. His thick accent didn't help. Meanwhile the masses of Al Bhed were gasping and causing a ruckus. Some attempted to get closer to him before their courage diminished. The older man gave the younger one an irritated look, stormed up to the cart and smacked him on the back.

"_Spiran. _Ra lyhhud ihtancdyht oui."

"E tu hud ihtancdyht silr Spiran," he admitted in shame, whipping his head away from his fiery gaze.

"Caneuicmo? E fuimt drehg dra vidina maytan fuimt esbnujeca eh vnuhd uv dra **Cyjeuin**!" he seethed, earning a mewl from the humiliated slave. He sighed and helped tip the pile of scrap into the gigantic barrage, slowly approaching Tidus afterwards. "Forgive me, Cyjeuin. My son has been neglecting his studies."

"I can see why in a place like this," he mused, absently staring at the leaky pipes and trying to ignore all the attention. He had so many questions to ask that they were cancelling out each other, so he opted for the more topical choice. "Um, that word you keep calling me… does that mean anything? Sir?"

"It certainly does," he chortled loudly, crossing his arms. He took a deep breath and scanned over the other slaves before continuing. "It means Saviour in Al Bhed. It's a traditional term we use to address the fallen aeon by when he returns to Spira."

Tidus uttered the flattest, most disbelieving "What?" he had ever delivered in his life.

"Vydran, yna oui cina ra ec naymmo dra Cyjeuin? Ra luimt zicd pa y muugymega," the man's son replied, hopelessness lacing his voice.

"Let's see… Looks just like an Al Bhed apart from the eyes. Ocean-coloured, just like the tapestry illustrates. Apart from the clothes—Ah, Rin! Is this the boy you were telling me about?"

Tidus' shock had turned into complete terror under the man's scrutiny. But he was suddenly thrown against Rin, yet another Al Bhed. He had a deep tan and wore beige clothes that didn't cover him up very much. Thankfully he was kind enough to give Tidus some breathing space.

"Don't toss him around, Cid. And yes, he is. Presumably he goes by the name of Tidus as that was what Mika called him," he exaggerated a retch at the maester's name. He looked up and smiled at the man's indescribable expression. "He really is an interesting guy. Saved me and the other Al Bhed from having to face those sell-out buffoons in the Gauntlet."

"And he even rescued your poor souls! That's just…" Cid started to chuckle in his bafflement. Tidus, in all his discomfort, swore that a couple of tears rolled down his cheek. "Could he have really come back, then? After all these years of Yevon's tyranny…"

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Cid. Why don't you introduce yourselves and let him talk for himself? And stop calling him Cyjeuin."

"Of course," he let out a final laugh and stepped aside. Tidus realised that he hadn't even moved by his own accord since the cart was taken from him. "Sorry, Tidus. My name's Cid. I'm the leader of the entire Al Bhed tribe. Over there is Brother, my son. This fine gentleman is Rin; he's my messenger and a master of disguise."

"And the only one who actually does anything," Rin smirked, earning a playful glare from Cid. "And really, I am. Look what fell out of your pockets."

Tidus' eyes snapped wide. A mixture of relief and over-protectiveness ran through his bones. Rin was holding the chips between his fingers like a deck of cards. He strolled over to Cid and presented them to him. He looked to his messenger and then to Tidus, looking like he just saw a ghost.

"No way…" he shook his head and started blubbering like a fish. "This can't be the Geosgaeno protocol, can it? I thought it was destroyed in one of the raids!"

Tidus had finally gotten hold of his voice again, albeit still very nervous. "Well, it came with a ship that was washed up in a cave…"

"Of course. Of course it did!" the leader was overcome with giddiness and nearly prancing which, if it hadn't been for his utterly surreal situation that could be mistaken for a fever dream, would have been amusing in Tidus' eyes. "Could this really just be a coincidence?! The one aeon that accepted our culture has a lookalike that's doing the exact same thing! With our most revered invention!"

"Cid. Calm. Down."

But he continued to express his dramatic joy to the rest of his tribe. Some of them completely bought into his enthusiasm. Most of them weren't as optimistic. Rin sighed and muttered apologies to Tidus, who was still fixated on Cid. His happiness looked and sounded so… fake. He was giving his oppressed people a false hope in the form of a complete fairy tale.

Him? A lost aeon? Above all, it was impossible.

The bell shrilled once again and an abundance of guards rammed into the room. Rin quickly gave Tidus the chips back before he was dragged off by the iron grips. Being escorted to his lone pen, he looked back to see some of the slaves trying to escape. And having their skulls beaten into as a result.

* * *

The next few hours were him dismantling the rest of the good-quality ship parts and dumping them in the barrage. By the time he was finished, the ship was nothing more than a charred skeleton. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a resting place. Down here where the only colours were murky brown and pitch black, he knew nothing of the passage of time.

The whiteness of the padded walls almost made him go blind. He was sitting against them with his legs sprawled out. His backside was in agony. He lolled his head around and his stinging eyes were clamped shut; he just wanted to drift into slumber. But he couldn't. So much had happened to him the past couple of days, and he couldn't process it all at once. Within all this confusion, all these people and noises and dissimulation, he couldn't even ask the most simplest of questions.

He started to blink when the creaky cell door swung open. He groaned, thinking it was the guard. But he went silent when he saw the flaps of a red trenchcoat.

"It's been a while," Auron murmured, quietly shutting the door behind him. Still looking at him he leaned on the wall next to the prisoner, casually holding his jug in his hand. "I suspect that you now have a few questions since you've become a guardian."

He nodded, looking down at the floor as he grasped for the most comprehensible sentence. "Where am I?"

"Bevelle's underground. Underneath the temple to be exact."

He let out quite the exasperation. His head whipped up and the whites of his eyes were showing. "But they're keeping Al Bhed and machina down here! Aren't they against that?"

"They only say that. Don't you find it suspicious that Spira's largest city claims to be run by a mere 'magic source'?" Auron glanced down at him from under his sunglasses. He, in turn, gave him an understanding scoff. "Bevelle has many secrets. What you've seen may be unethical, but mandatory to the city's survival. Barring the mages, Seymour and Yuna, nobody in the council has a firm knowledge of magic. They rely on machina which are decorated to look natural."

Tidus found it unbelievable, but not unexpected. Killing and enslaving the non-believers sounded exactly like what a cult would do. He set it aside for his sleep and propped himself up.

"So where are Seymour and Yuna? What happened—why am I down here?"

"They're getting married at the temple, so they'll stay in the temple. For two months," Auron explained, noting the contortions on Tidus' face. He hummed and came to tower over him. "When the three of you returned, Seymour started telling us of an occurrence at Djose Temple regarding you and Ixion's horn. And then Yuna was forced to say she witnessed the same thing at Besaid, only this time you were talking to Valefor herself."

"Forced? So Seymour's been using her…"

"Isn't that what you feared since you met?" he sounded condescending, but guilty at the notion that he couldn't help her. "But what happened to you has never happened to anyone else; you are somehow able to see and speak to the aeons. So not only are the artefacts directly connected to the gods themselves, but only you can interact with them. You were locked away so that Seymour can use you when the time comes. Mika destroyed your reputation so that they could appear in the right."

But… why was he the only one? "What'll he use me for?"

"His revolution. His complete control over Spira."

"That's…" _Why_ was he the only one?

"Hopefully you understand a little more," Auron shifted around, moistening his throat with the jug's contents. "Anything else you want to ask?"

'_Why am I the_ _only—_' he shuddered. He briskly got up on and his feet and took a deep breath. The question was just impossible to escape.

"Auron, I met the Al Bhed's leader. He kept calling me Saviour and a… well, the 'fallen aeon' in his words. I—I don't even know, Auron. He said I looked exactly like him, used machina like him and everyone was staring at me…"

It took him a few seconds to respond. "Obviously he thinks you're a reincarnation."

"Auron, it's not possible!" he shouted, getting worked up and pacing around the room. "I had a twin brother, right?! And parents, obviously… I don't know anything of some other lost aeon; I didn't even think they existed until what happened! And just—I'm a normal guy, aren't I? There's no way. I can't be one."

As he continued to rave about all the ridiculousness, the sheer implausibility of it all, Auron shrugged deeper into his coat in thought. He couldn't help but feel remorseful amusement. He had known him since he caught the young man sneaking his battered ship into Luca. Not once during the following couple of years had he seen him this bewildered and temperamental.

"You usually have an open mind. Why are you so quick to dismiss this?"

"Do I look like some all-knowing, powerful, magic-spewing, winged ghost to you?"

"Of course not. But you can't deny your uncanny ability to speak to them, can you? If that doesn't bear repeating, your machina fascination does. Think deeper, Tidus. Does anything else stand out?"

Arguing some more was pointless, so he fanned the chaos from his mind. Come to think of it, he bore absolutely no resemblance to his mother. But then again he had never seen his father in the flesh. He couldn't remember his name, actually; it was omitted by his mother's heartbreak and how much of a nuisance he was according to the villagers.

But he knew that he was avoiding the question. He made a sound of acquisition.

"I have to make my other rounds. All I can say is that you have a long road ahead of you," Auron sauntered over to the cell door. He looked back over his shoulder. "It's up to you what you do from now on. I'll keep in touch."

And with that he swiftly exited the cell and locked the door. Tidus steadily got down on his back and laid his head against the wall, listening to Auron's fading footsteps. Sleep refused to come to him for a while. His mind was brimming with the temptation to deny everything.

And yet… he couldn't help but wonder.


	12. Ancient Rebellion

**Chapter XII**

* * *

Barely hours – or what seemed like hours – passed when Tidus was shoved into his working area again. Despite almost getting no sleep, the inactivity of his muscles did him some good. The useless skeleton of his ship had been replaced with some much smaller weaponry. After dismantling the barrels and cylinders he was looking forward to his short break.

He had half a mind to recoil as he shoved the parts into the swerving barrage, afraid that they would either explode or that he would be crushed under a toppling chunk of debris. He let out a tired huff and wandered over to a corroded pylon. He was forcing his eyelids apart and the stench of the oil was making him queasy.

"Finished early?" Cid called after him, a tattered sack draped over his broad shoulder.

Tidus hummed in response. Fear panged in his chest at the thought of him going crazy again. Instead he was chuckling nervously, rubbing his head and looking at anything but him.

"Uh… Tidus, I'm sorry for yesterday. That whole 'Cyjeuin' thing, I mean," Cid sighed. He now had his eyes cast to the floor. "I think all the work and labour we had to do went to my head. I just wanted my people to have faith amidst all the misery. I'm sorry for scaring you."

"No, it's… it's fine," he lied. He had just managed to set aside the possibilities and now they came rushing back. Cid stuttered mindlessly and quickly went to the barrage, dislodging some of the parts and throwing them into the sack. "Hey, what're you doing?"

He scanned the room for any guards – thoroughly and carefully – before whispering: "Parts for the machina we're building."

"But I thought you had to—"

"Not for us. It's for the maesters," he muttered with a hint of harshness. He slowly turned away from Tidus' widened eyes and shrugged his shoulders shamefully. "Now I've done it… Tidus, you don't want to know what it is. I mean it."

His head was quivering with an unbelieving shock. What was he thinking?

"Hey, Cid," he started bleakly, walking towards him without any regard for his space. In response, the older man winced and swiftly rose to his feet. "If they allow you to just take parts, why don't you make your own weapons? You don't care about the maesters."

"If only it were that easy," he muttered darkly, clenching his fists. He glared at Tidus with disheartenment. "Do you see the guards hanging all over the place? You're not the first guy who had that idea. Believe me."

"But there's tons of Al Bhed in here! Just get them all and make an ambush!"

"And I guess you didn't mean it when you said we shouldn't be forced to fight! Isn't that right, Sacrifice? We're all cowards and can't fight for crap!"

Tidus stammered and fell quiet at Cid's sudden anger. He couldn't stand his pessimism… but he did have a point. He struggled for something to say but the older man went quiet. He slumped onto the floor, absently toying with the metals and mumbling shakily.

"It was years ago when it happened. Yevonite warriors invaded Bikanel. They kidnapped me, my family and the rest of the people in our Home. For years we've been imprisoned here, ripping up our inventions and scraping together this… horrible supermachina for our enemies. Tidus, there was this one Al Bhed… he had tried to break out all the slaves, but… but the guards grabbed his wife. He was no match for them, so she got…"

His whole body tensed up. A few tears slid down into the rusty floor. Tidus knew what he was implying; a wave of guilt washed over him. Lost for words he knelt down and focussed on him with oceanic eyes.

"What kind of leader can't protect his family?" Cid pounded the floor and shivered in front of Tidus, frustration coursing through him. "What kind of leader gets captured, lets his people suffer and believes in the Cyjeuin's return?"

When he heard the guards burst in, hoarse yelling drowning out his grief, Tidus could only answer him within his thoughts.

* * *

After his gruelling, life-draining duties were done with, Tidus found Rin and asked him if he had a book about the Al Bhed's history. He was reluctant at first, but used the masses of Al Bhed as a cover and sneaked them past the sights of the guards into the library. After digging through mounds of Yevonite propaganda he found a dusty tome, an Al Bhed to Spiran translation reference and some writing material.

"It'll be good for learning our language. But don't stay up all night reading it. I don't need another Cid."

Tidus' eyebrow quirked at his insensitivity, but he let it slide for the sake of his curiosity. Just to be safe he escorted himself through the linear hallways to his cell. Flipping open the first page of the tome, he laid back into the surprisingly cosy walls and dug into his research.

The tome itself appeared to be a chronological reprint of somebody's notes, illustrations and diary entries according to the introductory page and index. His name was Alb, and he was the clan chieftain of the Al Bhed during their golden days: Over four thousand years ago. The contents told that the clan lived on Bikanel… yet it mentioned farmlands and various tropical landscapes.

'_Isn't Bikanel a desert island?' _he recalled, flexing his fingers to ease their pain. '_Then again_ _it was thousands of years ago_…'

After a while he started reading the writing in bouts without looking at the reference. He learned to skim over the repetitive parts such as Alb's personal reminders. He found the illustrations very fascinating however; Alb was a very good sketcher. There were even blueprints for various household machina, weapons in case of an attack and… a ship that looked exactly like his. But not only that. It had wings and engines that were fuelled by a magic substance that Alb called 'mana'.

After further reading, he discovered that Geosgaeno was a planned mass-produced chip that would be compatible with all machina. They would be given free control yet complete obedience. Essentially meaning that machina would be able to operate without human function.

'_Multiple Geosgaenos in charge of everything,' _he chanted over and over in his head, becoming more and more pitying for what could have been.

He swiped his fingers across the lightweight papyrus, looking for something more interesting. His eyes withdrew at the sudden change of colour in the pages. The first glance at the header said it all. It was a scripted speech to be recited by Alb and spoken at a party. The lack of sleep was beginning to tug at him, but the suspense was too much to leave for another day. Unhealthily he shook himself awake and began to decipher the ancient text.

'_Ceremonial Speech_ (_21__th__ July) – Alb's Part (Al Bhed transcript)_

_Hello. How are you all this fine evening? I am Alb. As the leader of the Al Bhed, I grant the outsiders admission to the facilities in Home. I grant the outsiders usage to the various machina prototypes, as well as the right to give feedback to ensure that they are of the quality and functioning variety. Most of all, I grant the outsiders consumption of all the various foodstuffs and mineral water on the island. They may tread on this nurtured land, barefoot and without tension. They may allow the calm to wash over them._

_You may think of my actions as reckless. Even blasphemous. But I disregard the assumptions because deep down, we all want the same thing: Peace. Between our genders, ages, beliefs and races. We should not need to cower in the face of those different to us. I especially stress this towards the political powers up in Zanarkand; why must we bicker over our machina and magic, over what is right and wrong? All we are getting out of this quarrel is an ever-layering brick wall._

_But for all of you people who have come to our ceremony, Al Bhed or other, a very special person makes his appearance to the public. You may recognise him from the altars, the murals and the tales of old. Above all, he is my friend. He is your friend. He is an instigator of the flourishing life on our tropical island._

_He is Shinryu: Aeon of the waters and one of the founders of machina._

_(STAGE DIRECTION – Shinryu steps up onto stage, holding Caladbolg and gauntlet)_

_Long ago, our struggling tribe had nothing but sandstorms; metallic parts to shield us from those sandstorms and rotting morsels of food. Not a drop of clean water in sight. We were outcast from society because of our physical magic, our machina, and it was either inhabiting this abandoned landmark or face execution. We thought we were doomed to dry up in this desert._

_Until Shinryu came along._

_We were terrified at first; he was a god of normal magic and possessed the power to wipe us out. But he saw our machina - or what was left of it – and was eager to learn of our ways. He nurtured our land with rain and vegetation, assisted our clans and helped us invent the wonders that normal magic could not yet achieve. It was because of him that we were able to thrive, have a chance at life and most of all, have hope. He is our Saviour so to speak._

_He is an aeon for both believers and non-believers. For pro-magic and pro-machina. A sturdy bridge over our relentless tides. Please, give him your thanks when he comes down to communicate with all of you. It is, after all, his blessing that has driven me to the decision to allow outsiders and Al Bhed to mingle on Bikanel._

_Have a wonderful night. May the rain wash the tears away!'_

Tidus was shut down completely. He nipped the corner of the page and slowly turned it over, taking in the exponentially detailed illustration presented to him. It was a man wearing aquamarine, crowning a machina pile. An ocean surrounded him. His face looked just like his, right down to the eye colour.

He turned to the very last page where an editorial note lay. The last few entries were lost to raids that happened sometime after the speech's penning. After long last he let the hardcover fall onto the pages and spaced out for a little while. Sliding onto the hard floor was the least of his worries.

'_What happened to him, then? He's a fallen aeon, so… Did he turn on them? But then Cid wouldn't be worshipping him… Maybe he's trapped in his artefact as well.'_

He couldn't help but look at that illustration again. It was so eerie how similar they looked, even if it was just a coincidence. It had to be. It wasn't like he could use spontaneous magic. The one time he did was a desperate accident. Even if it just so happenedto control the rain.

The fatigue and frustration manifested as a headache. Holding his palms to his temple caused something to click within his mind. Shinryu… he had given the Al Bhed hope in even the direst situations. Power, health and a chance at a normal life. Cid's outburst rushed back to him.

Using his arm as a support he fell into a light, restless sleep. Starting tomorrow, he would try to be their Cyjeuin.

* * *

"Cid."

"Oh, Tidus," he breathed, quickly plastering a smile on his face and getting up onto his feet. He was a bit taken back by his determined smirk. "You're in high spirits. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Not a second later, he held up the tome to Cid's face and swept right to the bookmarked page; the one with all of the blueprints. He gave it to Cid for him to look over in awe, a glint apparent in his eyes.

"Wha—what is this?"

"I wanted to catch up on some history. But then I found these artillery plans," Tidus stated proudly. "Gatling guns and cannons. Easy to use, probably easy to make from all those parts over there."

His head began to vibrate with speechless scoffs. He nearly buried his nose into the papyrus to read the miniature writing. "But… this really can't—Tidus, you can't be saying…"

"That's right. In two months' time, we're busting us and your people out of this place," he smacked his fist into his palm for emphasis. "I have a friend for a maester. The captain of the guard, to be exact. I'm gonna contact him and tell him to distract the guards, and also so we can get a separate pen to keep our machina in. Including what's left of my ship. See this? Seems like Alb wanted to build an airship. _That's _how we're getting out of here."

"Tidus…" he was visibly flabbergasted, and was tearing up slightly. But a shadow of a doubt creased his mouth. "This seems like a ton of effort. Especially the airship part! Why only two months?"

Something stung his heartstrings just then. He stared up at the ceiling. He may as well be honest, even if the motive sounded selfish. "Because Yuna's getting married to some psycho called Seymour. I need to save her, otherwise… who knows what he'll do to her?"

"Yuna?! That scumbag comes down and threatens us with those black globs, and now he has his hands on my **niece**?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

He had bellowed loud enough for the entire room of Al Bhed to hear. Nearly everyone was giving him a deadpan stare, including Tidus. His face heated up to a beet red. He yanked the tome to his side and stormed off, more than a dozen Al Bhed scrambling to make a path for him.

"That does it! Rin! Where the hell is Rin?!"

"Your Highness," the messenger calmly walked out from one of the corridors, only to be rewarded with the tome being forcefully shoved into his torso by a fist.

"Don't smarm me. This is serious! Listen, you and me are gonna smuggle as many parts from that junk heap as possible. Keep track of time, keep those blueprints safe and _don't lose them._ You hear me? Do you hear me, Rin? You better have. Because this pathetic city and their maesters have pushed me to the limit _long_ ago. And it's only now, in my ignorance that I refuse to hit another nail for them. I hope that supermachina crashes and burns!"

Cid then turned away from his unflinching messenger and toward the raised platform, leaping on top of it. In their language he delivered to his tribe a raw, passionate speech. No pandering. No honeyed phrases. Just pure, unadulterated adrenaline for the race that was once a dignified society. They would show these guards the real blood and sweat that only these engineers would have. They would not rest until they embodied the daylight once again.

Cacophonies of cheering and hollering alerted the security from even the densest corridors. Slamming open the doors as usual, their suspicions were running high and their tempers at absolute zero.

"Cut out that noise or you're all getting the carbon monoxide!" one of them screamed at the top of his lungs, as if expecting any of them to listen to him.

Instead, all they got were venomous glares. The torture, the pain and all the pent-up resentment manifested through the slaves' scowls and sturdy stances. Cid chortled loudly and mercilessly. Followed by Brother, they confronted the rusted shells without the slightest tinge of fear.

"Down! Down, you animals! M—make one more move and I'll—"

A guard collapsed under the weight of Cid's powerful blow. Then another. And then another. Until the rest of them were backed up against the wall, barely able to stand within the heaving weight of their armours. Rattling arms struggled to uphold their scimitars. Brother simply snatched them up with the pinch of his fingers and threw them toward the crowd. Finally, they threw up their hands in surrender, dragged their assaulted companions to their feet and fled for the doors.

"How dare you! Apes, the whole lot of you! Just wait until Maester Auron hears about this!"

The whooping came back on full blast. Amidst all the flailing arms and jumping, Tidus could just make out Cid grinning and humbling himself. The jubilant mood was contagious; he leaned back onto a pylon and basked in the moment. Today was a successful start. If they just kept it up… they would be free. And he would be able to save his summoner.

'_I'm coming for you, Yuna,' _he stared up at the spiralling ceiling, his hope renewed. '_Just two more months, all right?'_


	13. The Black Mask

**Chapter XIII**

* * *

The very first thing that Yuna did upon being locked up in the temple was attempt to escape. She tried to climb down onto the scaffolding from her tower's window. She tried to fake an illness so that she could be carried all the way down to the priest's room. She had slowly, yet painfully waited for midnight so that she could sneak out of this regally-painted prison.

But Seymour had outsmarted her each time, and exposing every exploit to him had only tightened her confinement.

She thought she had been humiliated and traumatised enough. But the summoner training came howling back by the maester's demand. It was more rigorous than ever before. There was no room for rest, Seymour's berating comments were more venomous and she would be refused meals if she didn't meet his expectations. The pyreflies she had to work with were disobedient and erratic; they were a sickly black colour that had spewed from many a tricoloured fiend carcass during the expedition.

After every single session, all of her limbs would shut down completely. She would literally be dragged to her now-dimly lit, almost completely bare room by Seymour's puncturing grip, and thrown onto a rough mattress for some forced sleep. She deeply missed how Tidus would carry her with such care, settling her onto her bed after such an agonising experience. It was the only thing that she had to look forward to.

But he wasn't here. He was now suffering, maybe even dying, in an underground which she never knew existed until now. She couldn't get the mortifying image of his bruised, bloodied body out of her head. Stripped of his freedom and caged under a corrupt power, just as she was. She should have told him. Told him of Seymour's obsession for his misfortune. But she had lacked the strength and the courage to risk him to the maester's plans.

"Even if he were to escape somehow," Seymour twisted his neck toward the summoner as he about to leave the room. "what makes you think he'll want to come for you? Surely after you took advantage of his trust he would've lost all his empathy for you. He'll just be on the run, pretending he never knew you."

Those words stuck in her subconscious ever since. She knew he was lying. She knew that he was just trying to trawl her back into his circle. But her willpower was slowly withering away as the days dragged by, becoming more battered and broken every time Seymour used her for his political gain: Lying to the masses; saying that she was delighted to have her hand taken in his marriage; how he was raising them on a so-called holy pedestal of Yevon.

It sickened her. After what they allowed her loved ones to go through, she desperately wanted to disown herself from this church. And from the horrible maester that she would have to spend the rest of her life with.

But she fell short of his terrifying power, as she would have learned on Besaid. His immaculate skill with the staff would break through her shield, branding her with internal and external scars. She wished she was stronger. She wished she could turn these pained, tampered-with pyreflies against him and finish him off.

For now… she would just have to build her power. She would trudge through this immoral training with a straight face for the next two months. She will store up these blazing emotions, store up the essence in her blood and veins… and on that day, only that day, she will take off. Soaring free from this cage called Yevon.

To where she truly believed.

* * *

Mika was now reduced to a mere chair at the round table, while Seymour took up a marble throne. Who was once the grandmaester didn't seem to mind, however. Every council meeting in the temple now had Yuna seated by Seymour's side. Her words of protest against the council's proposals would be silenced by his clawed hand running up and down her arm.

"My flower has no need to intervene in our affairs," he would sweetly seethe into her ear. "Leave the decisions to the more… informed."

She despised him. She wished she could openly admit it. But Yevon literally knows what would happen to her if she did.

Instead she had to sit on this marble-granite throne, staring forward vacantly whilst the council members reaffirmed their sense of superiority through their suggestions. Maybe with her hands on her lap. Maybe with her legs crossed. They would only pay attention to her when Seymour warranted it. Otherwise she had to be a statue for Seymour and his adoring fans to stare at.

"Twenty tonnes of whisky after the wedding!" one of the council members declared, rousing laughs and agreeing nods.

"That would do a number on the deadweight, but I'll see what I can do," Seymour chuckled before throwing a brief, suspicious glance toward Yuna. She stared back tiredly. He leaned on the table and rummaged through the complaint letters. He fell silent, slowly picked up a card and cast a deadpan look into the audience. "Maester Auron."

"Revolutionary," the gruff man stated, obeying his signal to stand.

"There have been reports of hysteria among the slaves in the underground the past while, and your guards feel powerless to stop them," he raised his eyebrows with a hint of accusation. "Do you know why the guards are failing, if your leadership isn't to assume?"

"Simple. Ration-Two doesn't have the same quality and quantity as the others."

"The magical essence and vegetables?" Seymour sighed, followed by murmurs. "That makes sense. Seems like the chefs need a bit of a kick, then. Suppose we'll have to get some fresh blood in the kitchen."

"Literally," another member sniggered, provoking revolted glares from most of the others. Yuna's eyes shot open.

"W—what does he mean by liter—" The sensation of fingernails digging into her robes eased her mouth shut. She looked to Auron, who simply cast his eyes downward and nodded his head to the door, hoping she got the gesture.

"Right. The next order of duty is to restock the guards' supplies. We cannot risk those slaves escaping the underground. If all else fails we open the Purifico," Seymour placed the card onto the pile next to him as Auron sat down. "Next…"

Yuna retreated back into her own thoughts, though she was considerably more alert after that simple, yet repulsive phrase. They kept bringing up those 'slaves in the underground'… She knew they existed ever since the Gauntlet, but why would they need them? The Yevon church always proclaimed that Bevelle ran on a pure magic source, although she wouldn't be surprised if they were lying about that as well.

After another couple of hours the meeting ended. Yuna was more than ecstatic to get some space away from Seymour, who had stayed behind in the room to clean up the documents and mess. She could hear him grumbling nonsense to himself from behind the door. The guards took her down the corridor in the direction of her room as usual. But instead of leading her to a spiralling staircase, she was guided and swerved past many corners until they arrived at a confined space.

Auron was there. He was seated on a stool and clutching his upper arm. He thanked the guards and dismissed them. The door slammed shut.

"Having a handful of servants can be pretty helpful," he chuckled before growling in slight pain. Yuna kneeled down beside him, removing his hand and taking the pale skin in hers. There were deep, short lacerations. The trails of blood were scarce, presumably drained.

"Sir Auron, what happened to you?" she asked wearily. He grunted and looked away. She followed his gaze and gasped sharply. On the counter was a knife, a vial filled with blood, a distilling device and a separate airtight container with magical essence floating in it. Freshly gathered water sat in a jar beside the entire contraption. She stared at him in shock. "You can't be…"

"Better me than some misled donators."

"But why?" she acquiesced, unable to feel anything but confusion. She conjured up a curing spell from her hand. "Why are you doing this to yourself, just for some essence? Is this about the rations?"

"…Tidus' plans," he put it simply, which was enough to grasp Yuna's full attention. "He needs it so that the Al Bhed can regain their strength to escape the underground. He also needs it to make mana, and a lot of it."

"Al Bhed? Mana? You mean what spheres are made out of— those slaves are Al Bhed?"

"All you need to know for now is that Tidus won't give up," Auron gestured for her to simmer down, which wasn't as successful. "He won't stop until he sees you and the other slaves to safety. I'm just doing as much as I can without having the council catch on. I can take care of myself. It's the others who need help."

She raised her fist to her chest, determination pumping through her. "Then I'll help them, too."

He chuckled. "Then bring me some weapons and essence if you can. I'll try and take them down to them."

She nodded fiercely and began to heal his arm. Auron finished making the essence, mixed it in with the water and disguised the concoction amongst his sake jug. Before opening the door he turned to Yuna once again. His smile was hiding beneath his collar.

"You're a good woman, Yuna. Tidus should consider himself lucky to be your guardian."

Leaving it at that, he called for the guards and had them escort her to the tower. She was overcome with a sense of rebellion and responsibility. Even when they were separated, he was still looking out for her. It made her heart race. It gave her strength. Most of all, it gave her the incentive to do the same. Working together.

He had saved her life many times before. Now it was her turn. She would not let Seymour have his way. Not with him. Not with anyone. That was her promise.

* * *

A few weeks had passed since her talk with Auron. Thanks to her concern, he resorted to 'borrowing' the rations and extracting essence from the wineries' beverages and the water supply; it turned out that it was what gave them that unique flavouring. Yuna had found the fact a little thought-provoking and controversial, but she didn't care now. All that mattered to her was packaging her 'borrowed' staves and swords and getting them through to Auron.

She lay on her decaying mattress, eyes focussed on the ceiling. Tidus had a sword. A beautiful blade made out of liquid crystal, designed to appear aquatic. He polished and washed its little indentations just as much as he swung it around. It was special to him. But it had been seized along with the rest of his belongings.

It had been given to Seymour. He took it with him through a heavily-protected and decorated entrance… and that was the last she had ever seen of it since. Did he destroy it? Was he simply storing it within the depths behind those colourful, Yevonic symbols?

They were impossible – forbidden – to breach. But Seymour had constantly been slipping in and out of their crevices. She had no idea what prompted her to do so, but she had once again, at the turn of midnight, snaked out of her room. Guided by her curiosity. Drawn in by her desire. Until at last, she came face-to-face with the mandala patterns. Circling round and round, the eye of Yevon printed on the centre.

The giant doors seemed insurmountable; they were covered by a force-field. But then she saw it. A tiny crack in the opening, warping the properties of the barrier. A flickering orange light teased her from within. Seymour had neglected to close the door all the way. Her delicate fingers applied pressure to the hardened redwood. Little by little the mandala separated, until they revealed a hollow, spiralling cavern; dim lights were spread evenly across the crumbling walls. Her petite form squeezed past the space – scorched slightly by the weakened barrier – and down into the darkness.

Time came to a standstill as she traversed the unending tunnel. There was no sound save for the ominous, ambient echo. The walls were beginning to taper, until the eternal fires of the torches were almost catching her robes. The air turned denser and colder; she was finding it harder to breath. Unpleasant, violent sensations were sweeping across her. Darkness was weighing her down. She thought she wouldn't survive to see the end.

But she reached the end: A completely black wall. No signs of progression or accomplishment. Her breath failed to form with her disappointment. She was about to turn around when she saw a stray opening in the western wall. A singular ray of white light.

She approached it. The sensations got stronger. She heard wailing reminiscent of pyreflies and Seymour's voice. She got down ever so quietly on her knees and peered through the opening.

From her limited sight she could see murals of Yevonic symbols chalked all over the curved walls, as well as the strange language that she had seen on the ancient relic. She saw Tidus' sword on a pedestal as well as Valefor's mask behind it. Another pedestal had a thin black book on it. Seymour was pacing around a sphere that was twice his height. Held in place by golden supports, black and purple liquid swirled and swam within the glass. The sensations burned even stronger; this felt like an unnatural, soul-tearing vacuum which was not of this world.

Seymour continued his impatience around the sphere, with Yuna drawing back whenever he came close. He sighed, began thumping his foot against the floor and started balling up his claws in irritancy. Their pairs of eyes were drawn to the sphere when distorted noises began to emit from it. The dark clouds parted to reveal an image of a man. A man whose face was concealed by a black mask. Seymour acknowledged his appearance with a greeting and a prayer.

"It's about time we met again, High Lord," he stretched out his arms, letting his bellowing robes touch the floor. He then directed the masked man's attention to the artefacts around him. "As you can see, I've been very busy. The summoners are also being trained accordingly. Soon our army of dark mutations will be the strongest force in Spira. More powerful than any life-form!"

"Your revolution must be starting, then," the masked man sighed. His deep voice was muffled slightly. The hologram examined each artefact carefully, but was a bit confused when he came across the crystalline sword. "S—Seymour… What is that sword?"

"Oh, this?" he trailed over to it and lifted it without trouble, brandishing it proudly in front of the masked man's face. "That's the best part, High Lord. See, I think he's finally come back…"

The man was bewildered, if not a little disbelieving. "It may look like Caladbolg, but I doubt—"

"I was just getting to that," Seymour stated, sounding strangely excited. Yuna held her breath as he started sauntering around the sphere, a pompous aura about him. "Shortly after I finally left Yuna with no guardians, I decided that enough was enough. I conducted one of the storms to Bevelle so that I could infect her father and take his place. It… didn't go exactly to plan. Yuna had doubted me and ran straight into the swamp. Stupid girl."

"Because you did not think it through," the man's voice was hushed and sounded disappointed. Seymour glared at him and twirled the sword around.

"That's not the point. So Yuna could have died. Just an annoyance. The magic would bring her back anyway," he shrugged. She shifted away from the opening and fought down the queasiness, still listening. "But this man saved her, High Lord. He… he looks just like an Al Bhed, except he has blue eyes."

The man exclaimed sharply. The liquid in the sphere began to gyrate. "Seymour, he cannot be…"

"Oh, but he might," he grinned smugly. But a tinge of hurt could be detected with the tilt of his head. "I thought I had met him two years ago. But he appeared to be a dud, according to the tragedy of these notes here. But, High Lord… is it a coincidence that he would happen to have a sword like this? Or use machina? Or be able to speak to the aeons through these artefacts? Why, he even goes under a different name. Tidus. He's just trying to mock me, like always."

The man stayed silent for a long time. Finally his beady eyes opened, piercing through Seymour's from within his black mask. "I hope you won't be involving him in your scheme."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll just be using him to get the key to Purgatory. Then I'll banish him to it," his dark chuckles bounced off the walls, invading Yuna's fragile ears. "The traitor doesn't deserve a place in the world that we will create, nor some mere death. Just one more month, High Lord. One more month, and these inferior life-forms will start to be purged."

From behind the walls, Yuna was shaking all over. She couldn't take much more. She couldn't even comprehend it. Hurriedly she rose to her feet, not even allowing the blood to start coursing through her veins again. She was dizzy and her legs were in excruciating pain, but she started running despite. To get away from these deadly sensations. Through the unending tunnel of denial that she was involved in his scheme.

Back in the circular chamber, Seymour's lips were rising and falling with his conflicting emotions. The masked man was hesitating with his response. They had both begun to speak at the same time, but Seymour let him go first out of respect.

"What will you do when somebody finds out? Your plan may sound complex, but brittle all the same."

"Even if they do, that doesn't mean they can stop me," Seymour laughed cockily, sporting a feral grin and turning toward the broken wall. He was still twirling the sword in his hand. "I think she deserves to know, after all."

* * *

Not a cloud spoiled the vibrant blue skies. The ringing of bells sung harmoniously with the soothing orchestra. Flocks of doves chirped high above the aisle, their white wings gleaming underneath the sun.

Yuna peered up at those doves through her veil. She envied how they gracefully glided with the wind without a care in the world. They were pure. Free. Something that her silky-white wedding dress, adorned with fluttering feathers and glowing with brilliance, could only imitate.

For she was chained to the groom at her side, who had the intimidation and dominance of a vulture. His flowing, yet formal blue robes, with a single horn of hair protruding from his mitre. He almost looked like a proper person to her, but all it took was the glint from his eyes to make her arms stiffen and her bouquet suffocate.

They walked down the aisle in silence, having the commotion speak for them. Yuna let her gaze fleet around the area. She could see all of Bevelle from up here, and a boundless ocean where the flocks made their destination. Again, she wished she could leap from the edge. She wished she could fly.

But they were approaching the stairs to the altar. Soon, they would be at the top. Mika would bound them together, and Seymour would make her his.

She felt like screaming the last of her hope away. Everything seemed futile. Instead, she desperate grasped at what was left of it. It was slipping from her fingers, burning up with the unforgiving heat. She was about to set her foot on the first step. She was about to give up.

An explosion boomed through the entire city. The audience began to shrill, clamouring and scrabbling for a safe haven. Some of them roused the attention of the entire ceremony; they pointed to the huge silhouette in the distance. It was casting shadows over the buildings with its wings. It was diving toward cargo ships… before emerging moments later, now making its voyage toward the aisle.

It looked like a gigantic eagle to Yuna. It was aerodynamic and nearly as fast as a bullet. But as it got closer… she saw mana contrails spurting out from the engines, showering the entire city. She heard a mechanical voice squawking with thrills and screeches, as if nothing could stop it.

But most important of all, a man had emerged from the cabin and was supporting himself against the mast. He was wearing a yellow jacket and black dungarees. Recently-built muscle was bulging from his forearms. But most of all, he had golden hair and oceanic eyes. The ship readied its cannons, but the two of them locked eyes from the opposite ends of the aisle.

"You're here," Yuna whispered. Her hope was renewed.


	14. A Flight From Avidity

**Chapter XIV**

* * *

"What were you doing all this time? You've got muscle!"

"You think so?" Tidus panted, sweat and water dripping down his slightly broader frame. He was tensed up against the kitchen counter, glaring out of the window and trying to ignore the hyperactive blue light on the wall. "How's the new ship feel, by the way?"

"Lighter, sturdier, being able to fly… A line of cannons is revenge's best weapon! "

He could barely respond, but he smiled slightly at Geosgaeno's satisfaction. He glanced at the rear of the grapple cannon which was built into the wall. His grip hardened and his stomach churned with the increase in air pressure.

Two months. Just two hellish months in those underground tunnels was nearly enough to strip him of all his humanity. How stagnant and timeless they were, how he dreamed for daylight and constantly feared that Yuna had given up. He became a lot more fluent in the Al Bhed language and adapted their clothing styles. Every day he would carry heaps of steel, eating nothing but barely-edible junk and downing it all with putrid magical essence. Although the labour burned him all over, it was the only way for him to improve his strength for the breakout.

The airship was barely finished in time and it showed from a functional standpoint: An extremely limited supply of mana; fewer rooms and lots of little insecurities everywhere. But it was the best everyone could do with all of the other countless problems. He only hoped that it would be enough to save Yuna; without the power of flight, everything would be ruined.

Even then he had barely escaped from the underground with his skin intact. Auron had organised a cargo ship to arrive at the secret docks the night before. In the morning the masses of Al Bhed made a stampede for the docks, with Rin leading them. But then it happened. An earthquake from both the floors and the walls.

A tidal wave was unleashed from above, blasting through every single tunnel with the intent of drowning the slaves. He barely had time to comprehend it before he, Cid and Brother had rushed for the safety of the airship. Geosgaeno blasted the layered walls apart with the makeshift bombs, which both slowed down the submersion for the Al Bhed exodus and gave the airship openings for it to fly up and launch through. Their hearts were now pounding from all the tension. They could only hope that Rin could pull through and guide the other people to safety.

"Don't get too excited, Geos. You only have so much fuel," Tidus responded, glancing out of the window again. Below he could see the tidal waves cascading as waterfalls from the temple's foundations, swallowing parts of the streets. Citizens scattered for dry land and were swept away onto the main road. "A—anyway, take us to that vessel. I'm dropping off Cid and Brother."

Spectators screamed and pointed fingers at the surreal sight in the sky. After casting its shadows over the buildings, it came to land in the ocean just beside the vessel. It bobbed up and down as the two Al Bhed fumbled onto the deck. Rin came dashing out with his followers just then; the waves had helped them get to their escape faster. With some of the Al Bhed standing on guard and most of them retreating to the cabin, Cid thanked him profusely.

"Get up there and rescue your girl, son," he encouraged Tidus, making his face heat up. "I don't want to see you until my niece is safe. We'll all be returning to Bikanel. Until next time."

With that, the airship boosted out to the ocean and took off again, this time making a difficult arc toward the top of the temple and surging forward. Tidus carefully made his way to the deck. Balancing against the mast with his dungarees whipping his lower legs, he crooked a smirk at all the fancily-dressed attenders as they cowered from the noise. Mika was the priest at the top of the altar. His eyes bulged out of their sockets and his brittle legs rattled.

"N—no! The machina demon… it has been reborn and has unfurled its wings!" he cried to the wind, about to fall unconscious in the face of the terror.

Geosgaeno aligned them in front of the altar and readied the cannons, but the bride caught Tidus' eyes.

"I'm here," he whispered with a tiny smile.

Despite the situation, he was taken by Yuna's much-missed beauty until the entire platform was sprayed with smoke bombs. Only the top of the altar remained. Most of the attenders and security finally gave in and fell back to the interiors of the towers, but Seymour persevered and trekked up the steps, his bride in struggling tow.

"I can't believe it. Even the Purifico didn't stop you!" he yelled to the giant shadow, violently throwing Yuna onto the ceremonial stage and seizing her arm. He turned to a blubbering, tearful Mika who couldn't form a full sentence. He was clutching onto a thick black book and nearly dropped it with his quivering state. "I can't stand your incompetence any longer! Give me that. You never deserved my magic."

He snatched the book out of Mika's arm and sent him sprawling off the altar. His head narrowly avoided getting clobbered by the grappling hook which pierced the wall on Yuna's side. Quickly he opened it to the bookmarked page and began to chant a mantra in an unknown language, eyes fixated on his bride with every silver-tongued syllable.

Lashing winds enveloped Yuna. The air around her dropped to freezing temperatures, and every sound was muffled and overpowered by Seymour's inhumane chanting. Purple colours flitted across his pupils as his voice got deeper and raspier. She was incapable of movement. The dark spell in his eyes anchored her to the very spot as he slowly began to lean in to her lips.

She suddenly felt something intense – feelings she never knew could exist; they were a stone-shattering fear, an infernal anger and a confining sorrow. The very notion, the very thought that she would be Seymour's puppet – it awakened a power deep inside of her. One that she had been building up for two arduous months.

Seymour had finished reciting. She could feel the insufferable, sinful magic emanating from his lips. She could hear Tidus zipping down the rope from behind her. His very presence gave her hope. The hope – the reason – to continue living.

She broke free from Seymour's grasp, raised her hands and unleashed her suffering in the form of shapeless beams.

His screams were unlike anything she had ever heard in her life. He slumped to the floor, clawing at his face as the two different energies reacted in his eyes and mouth. He shrilled and shrilled. She didn't care.

With her senses returning to normal, she turned around to meet Tidus' bewildered, yet affectionate expression. She couldn't help but let her guard down and smile back. Two months without his dimpling smile, or his shining eyes. She felt the warmth return to her. His face she would never take for granted again.

He couldn't refrain from taking her white gloved hand in his black one. She couldn't refrain from reciprocating his gesture. They were about to speak to each other. They so eagerly awaited each other's voices—

"Guards, seize Yuna! Stop that traitor!"

—but instead, Tidus wrapped an arm around Yuna's waist and dislodged the grapple without warning. She squeaked and held onto him for dear life as they swung around in the air, with only a rope and a metal hook to support them. It bashed some of the guards over the head, and he kicked away the ones that were trying to get close. He called Geosgaeno through his earpiece to get him to raise the grapple. He tightened her hold on her to get her prepared.

In an instant they were whisked upwards. Just as the guards gave up and resorted to firearms. Their aim was no match for the airship's velocity however, as in no time they were on the deck and shielding themselves with the metal coating. He sheltered her within the cabin and commanded Geosgaeno to find another opening to the temple. They descended, keeping out of the guns' range as much as they could when they came across the windows.

He ordered Yuna to stay on the ship and Geosgaeno to pick him up when he contacted him. The grapple smashed the glass and the interior was shrouded with another smoke bomb. She protested for the sake of his safety, but he only cast a reassuring smile. With the engines now conserving as much mana as they could, he grabbed one of the hand-cannons, leapt from the deck and dived through the broken window, making a sharp detour into the temple while the smoke still covered him.

Auron had told him about the highly-secured chasm that Yuna had stumbled across. He weaved between the spaces and knocked out unsuspecting guards with the hunk of metal. He came across the giant doors while being hunted down by a posse. He ignited the cannon – his hands burning from the overheating cylinder – and blasted the doors to bits with the dense ammunition. Sparks spurted from the dying force-field. The effluvium made him suffocate and drop the cannon, shattering it. The distant rumbling of footsteps forced him to clumsily charge down the tunnel.

He was having withdrawals – the unwelcoming darkness made him feel like he was back underground. The shadow in pursuit was shooting off a freezing air and snuffing out the torches in front of him. The haunting voice called out from behind. Its footsteps echoed against the walls, desperate to claim its prey. It was exactly like the underground – no… it went back further than that. This was the night it all began.

A black wall crushed his hopes. His predator was slowly, but surely trailing behind. This couldn't be a dead end. It couldn't be over. He wanted to cry out. Instead he pounded his fists against the hard, cold… loose material. It swiftly swung open, revealing the secret chamber with blinding light. He could barely take in the artefacts, his sword, the objects on the table and the spherical crystal before he was assaulted with a numbing emptiness.

He wrapped his arms around his body and weakly stepped onto the marble floor. An uncontrollable trauma settled within his reflexes whenever he stared directly into the black and purple depths. It was ridiculous; he was losing control of his basic emotions. Tormenting hallucinations and headaches flashed in his head.

He needed answers. This void of negativity had taken his nightmares by the reins and trampled over his sleep. He approached Valefor's mask. She could reveal everything; she said that she knew everything. The pieces were all banding together.

If he _was_ this fallen aeon – though he still fervently denied it – he could realise the reason for all these events.

His fingertips grazed the scarred wood, causing his insides to go weightless and the ground to lose its solidity. Shivers and convulsions pulsated through him. He forced himself to grip the mask, though he was surely losing strength. Valefor slowly appeared before him, her childish face solemn as always. But he also heard gasps and whispers coming from the other pedestals.

Two more figures rose from the artefacts in swirling lights. From the horn came a man he had seen before, but his features were now more pronounced. His lack of a shirt showed off his skinniness and deep tan. Silver ponytails draped from every space on his head. From the necklace came half a man and half a beast. He stood tall, brandishing bare bulging muscles with long, fiery hair. His chiselled face made astonished contact with Tidus'. He knew that they were Ixion and Ifrit.

All three of them started speaking at once. They stamped out each other's words with the desire to converse with the bewildered man. Tensions were running high. His attempts to quell the aeons' ramblings were all for naught. Sizzling and dissolving started occurring within the sphere, startling them all. The face of a masked man floated within the colours.

"Go to him. Tell him you can see me," Ixion muttered calmly.

"No! Don't listen to them!" Valefor pleaded. Her efforts to stop Tidus' movements toward the sphere were proven futile through her ethereal form. "Don't you recognise him?! You have no idea what you're getting into!"

"Uh… Shinryu?" Ifrit scratched his head, still making puzzled noises.

But he continued to ignore them and their relentless arguing. They couldn't stop him, after all. With the mask still in his hand he reclaimed his sword with the other, and drew closer to the distorted hologram. Beady eyes locked onto his. Suddenly he experienced an unknown surge of fear; his feet were now working against him. He rooted himself to the floor with all of his vigour.

"I—Ixion…" now his voice was escaping him. This fear – this appetite-stealing, bone-deflating sensation – had always been connected to those damning dark colours. "Ixion sent me—I can see him, I think…"

"…I see," the man responded after a long pause. "So you are the one Seymour told me about. He was right… you do look exactly alike, but…"

"Don't listen to him! He's gonna try it again!" Valefor shrieked in his ear. Tidus gritted his teeth in frustration. The lack of silence and his obliviousness were driving him crazy.

The man sighed deeply after his ponderings and laid eyes on the other two artefacts. Ixion and Ifrit both looked resentful yet subjective. "Tidus, will you do something for me? If you really can talk to the aeons, then… tell them that Yu Yevon is sorry for everything."

"You can just _say_ that," Valefor spat bitterly. Her apparition began to dissolve at the fists as she looked to and fro the two men. "I'll never forgive you for Shinryu! Nothing you do will bring him back or justify yourself!"

And just like that, the voices started again. Valefor's raw anger fell on deaf ears. Ixion tried and failed to reason with her, leading to more disharmonious voices. Questions sprouted and toppled within Tidus' mind. Chaos. The pitches were clashing together and tormenting him, ignoring him. He always hated being left in the dark. They brought on the questions and it was now that they needed to answer.

He had blurted it out at the worst of times, with the worst of manners. He didn't regret it. Everyone slowly came to focus on him. He was surrounded by spirits. Spirits and a worshipped deity.

"Am I Shinryu?"

They completely ignored him, for another person stole their attention. His bellowing robes and intricate staff scraped against the gritty floor with every subtle step. He shot his feral, disfigured grin at the aeons and at the masked man. Tidus refused to turn around, even when his scorched claws made contact with his shoulder.

"Isn't it obvious?" Seymour's throat had been damaged by the earlier assault, but his raspy – almost soulless – tone suited him infinitely better. "You can't run now. I've seen through you."

He directed his glassy eyes to the mask in his hand with an amused curve in his lips. He slowly stretched out his fingers and eased them toward it. Tidus felt his frigid attempts, snatched the mask to his chest and held out his sword. Seymour couldn't help but chortle loudly. He flipped his staff onto its opposite end and held the jagged stake to Tidus' neck.

"You'd still protect little Valefor? As I thought. Only you would still care about that brat. I'm surprised he hasn't jumped for your face, High Lord. Strange how he's come back…"

He sounded so sincere. It was perplexing and yet… horrifying. Tidus' willpower was draining away by the second; he almost felt inclined to believe his ambiguous assumptions. But why? Why should this lunatic's ramblings hold truth after everything he's done? Was he – an ordinary person with dreams and ambitions, who coincidentally stumbled into a news-worthy massacre – being mistaken for somebody else?

Would that mean Cid is a lunatic as well? Or Auron? Could they really be on the same side as the maester who was about to end his life?

"How many millennia has it been, Shinryu? Not enough, seeing how you're still pretending to be clueless as always," Seymour whispered harshly. His hands were quivering slightly. "It's all over. Your people have built me a nice superweapon right under our feet. Starting tonight, SIN's blood will replace your waters. Your cursed island will be demolished. And you and your Al Bhed agenda will cease to exist. My new Spira will end the suffering you caused!

And about Yuna… If you steal from me, I can steal from you. Just like all those years ago."

He chipped Tidus' neck with the stake. He gasped violently. Ripples shot through him and his mouth was filled with a coppery taste. His immediate reaction was to discard the mask, dive to his knees and retaliate with impaling the sword into Seymour's chest with both hands. The pain settled in. He started to cough up blood and an abundance of magical essence.

Seymour screamed that curdling noise again. He flailed about to dislodge the aquatic blade from his torso. Desperately clutching the wide tear in his skin, he fled up the chasm without another word. Tidus tilted his neck up toward the sphere as he felt the essence quickly heal his wound. In doing so, the masked man stared down at him with obscured emotions.

"Seymour wants to renovate everything in this room to Project Vegnagun, that superweapon. Before you go, I... I would suggest you take the artefacts, that mirror and anything else you can handle. If you want more answers, go to the island surrounded by storms."

He nodded. After all, he would trust anybody who was working against Seymour, no matter how unbelievable the situation was. He finally brought down his arms to take in the blade which he had not seen for two months. However, the sight hit him with dawning.

It was stained black.

* * *

"Get back in my cabin, missy!" Geosgaeno yelled at the brave, yet foolish summoner. She was dangerously close to the edge; the angle at which the ship was recoiling and rocking was too much for the safety railings to catch her. "I got a message from Tidus. He says Seymour's coming for you!"

"So you're just going to fly away?" Yuna responded flatly, still staring at the broken window just metres from the grapple cannon.

He stuttered, feeling more batches of mana stream from his thrusters with each passing second. Only a few minutes before they would empty out completely. "Well, we can't stay here forever. Either you get killed or we both plummet for miles! I'd never leave him in a place like that, but otherwise it's his fault."

"I don't care what comes our way," she spoke quietly, firmly gripping her staff until her knuckles turned white. "After all we went through we're not leaving without him."

Her eyes steeled themselves on the smashed glass and what little smoke remained, searching for a slither of yellow or a smudge of azure. She should have gone with him to find the artefacts, even if he so openly opposed it. Even then she would have heard his voice through overprotective lectures or his questions as she explained what she had heard in the chamber just a month prior. But she stayed behind, and was now facing the risk that she had missed her last chance to truly see him again.

'_I can't think like this,' _she shook her faltering head. '_I have to trust him. I've always relied on him since the start.'_

Sure enough, a brawl could be heard from just behind the window. Tidus had come out victorious just by edging close to the open air and pointing his sword at the opposition. He turned to the ship and beckoned with his head. It got as close to the wall as it can, and Yuna helped by reaching for the small container in his hand.

With just enough time he lunged for the guards and knocked them to their feet with a few swipes. He made a sharp turn and half-cautioned, half-jumped for the deck. They both yanked the grapple from the wall and the ship blasted off, leaving an explosion of mana contrails on the walls and within the filthy break-in point.

Tidus noticed the stormy island off the south end of Bevelle; it was the same island that he had been wondering about the morning after he docked on the outskirts. Once he commanded Geosgaeno to descend toward it, he shot an exhausted smile in Yuna's direction, who in turn gave him an empathetic one. He gently took the hand that held the container and eased the both of them to the cabin.

But Yuna's senses were more tuned. She screamed his name and tackled them both to the ground. Just adjacent to his feet was where a combusted set of boards crackled away. They scuttled to their feet. Seymour jumped down from the awning with a heavy thud. His teeth-bearing grin spoke more than a thousand words as his fingers splintered one of the columns.

"Your invention makes for a good obstacle course."

But they heeded no attention to his taunts. They were instead drawn to the emblem-like creature crawling forth from his chest's inflicted wound. Black and purple fungus-like limbs wriggled and toiled from the decaying flesh down to his abdomen, which was now sickly discoloured.

On top of that, the swollen veins on his head were even more prevalent. His skin had turned pale and translucent, with dark shadows bruising him all throughout… He looked like one of the tricoloured fiends. A man cursed by sin.

"Yuna, this is your last chance," his voice cracked amidst his agony and insanity. He lurched for her with his claws, which seemed to be growing in length alongside their loss of colour. "Become my summoner, and we will rule the new Spira together! We will kill the monster that stands beside you!"

She looked down at the hand which she was already holding, and then to the misshapen one which was mutating before her eyes. Although they were deathly afraid, they failed to hold back tiny laughs of pure disbelief.

"I'm sorry. Who's supposed to be the monster?" she snapped back into seriousness, raising her staff and nearly ramming the tip into his transmogrifying face. "I'd never do anything to him or anything for you. Not even for the whole world."

She aimed the tip at his festering wound and charged up a spell. Upon realising her intentions, Seymour cried out, covered it with his claws and took a step back into the open. It turned out to be a bad idea. Geosgaeno took the chance to tilt the whole ship sideways. Tidus and Yuna slammed into the wall. Seymour cried out as he toppled over and frantically clung onto the safety railings. His lack of control over his growing power combined with the flimsy, unrefined metal was his literal downfall. His shrills were silenced by the spacious, yet disturbed ocean.

They didn't have a chance to take in the dark fluid pooling in the water, as they had already whizzed by it. The two of them regained their balance once they had their feet to themselves. They thought they finally had to time to relax. But then they heard sputters. Whizzes. The mana contrails ended. Geosgaeno bellowed a warning to them.

And then they took a steep dive. They were sent careening to the floor again. The ship made a violent impact with the ocean and it was nearly swallowed whole. Still it skimmed toward its destination with uncalled-for speed. Straight into the island's storm-wall.

The monsoon battered down on the deck, making the boards incredibly slippery and bruising the two of them. Geosgaeno raised the ship's wings in an attempt to shield them from the lashing tides, but it was a meaningless effort by then. Their hands slipped. They fell back to opposite sides.

They climbed and crawled by the dents of the planks to reach each other again, but it was just too unstable for them to succeed. They then made a stretch for the cabin, but they were losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen and… a song. A sweet, light lullaby that just barely reached them through the howling winds.

Despite the aching pain and the possibility of death, they began to feel drowsy. They fell just short of the awning's safety before the soothing music shut down their minds. Before Geosgaeno could awaken them with his boundless screeches, they were thrown overboard by an engulfing tidal wave.


	15. Reunited

**Chapter XV**

* * *

The soft patters of raindrops roused Tidus from his painful slumber. A mixture of mud and decaying grass clung onto his cheek and his ragged clothing. He groaned and lifted himself onto his knees, enduring the dizzying headache that followed. Once he regained his eyesight he took in the strange, unknown land that was dying before him:

The river that carried him to the shore was shooting off an unnaturally strong blue, even in the harsh night. Crystalline lichens hung from the entangled bunch of towering, twisting trees. Their barks were rotting and their periwinkle foliage was falling off and dissolving into dust. Shimmering crystals grew on the hills; some of them had broken off and their particles gave the ground a glittering appearance.

He crawled over to his sword which he had almost mistaken for a crystal; the raindrops stuck to and coated the blade, turning it into a weak light source. He started to walk around while his mind drew blanks. He was lost and confused. The only recollection he had of earlier in the day didn't even seem real to him.

He had almost convinced himself of being in a dream world when the aquatic rays shone on a small container by the bankside. He bent down and unlocked the heavy lid. The artefacts, along with the mirror and Shuyin's notes, lay before him. His face's reflection, as well as the vague voices and the black colour, kicked his memory and legs into gear.

The two heavy objects couldn't slow down his sprinting down the bankside. He cried out her name – to the depths of the river, the starry sky and within the hollow crooks of the dense forest – with a growing unsettlement and a sinking feeling in his chest. Abstract chimes began to invade his ears as he got ever closer to the expansive clearing. When the river disappeared behind a wall of tree roots, he scavenged out an alternate path.

He trudged up the largest hill and was met with – to his awe – a beautiful spring. Many rainwater rivers were flowing into it, causing ripples and patterns to glide across while washed-away crystal particles flew upwards. The island in the centre supported an old, fruit-bearing tree. The crescent moon hung lazily over the scenery, reflecting amber lights onto the water and giving the scenery a celestial, storybook-like ambience. It was the only part of the land which the rain had not fallen upon, yet it was brimming with life.

A gleam caught his eyes from out in the spring. There she lay, unconscious and on her back, the sagging feathers of her wedding dress almost dragging her under. Without thinking he left his burdens on the shore, dived in and wrapped her up in his arms. He streamed over to the island without slowing down and nestled in under one of the roots.

Her skin was freezing to the point of tearful loss, but he stamped out those thoughts and cocooned her up in his warmth. He mumbled pleads for her to wake up, resting his chin on the top of her head and staring into the open for any dangers. An age of restless silence passed when he felt her shifting and groaning. He leaned back against the bark to give her some space, and instead caught her wide, innocent gaze. The both of them went quiet for a short while.

"Yuna…" his throat was clogged up with nervousness; moonbeams were slipping through the holes and onto her pure white wedding dress. He averted his shy gaze from her twinkling, intense eyes. "You weren't moving for a while. You all right?"

She didn't answer. Instead she encircled his shoulders with her arms and snuggled deeper into his chest. She couldn't help but smile dreamily as she heard him stammer and felt his heart pounding furiously. Eventually he calmed down, returned her smile and held her by the waist, running his fingers through her wet hair. A solace overcame them again. It was broken when he felt shuddering motions against his chest.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I have so much to say," she laughed at his worried look as she gently pushed herself upwards, but tears blurred her eyesight. "Tidus, I thought I'd never see you again. I… Seymour forced me to. I never wanted to make you go through all of this! I wanted to tell you… I'm so sorry, Tidus."

He only looked down at her sobbing state with a bittersweet smile of his own. He removed one of his gloves and held the hand to her cheek; it was burning red with differing emotions. Now it was her heart that was pounding loudly; she took in the warm, bronze hand against her pale skin; she stared into the oceanic eyes that were lit up by the similar colours all around them.

"It's all right. It's been hard for me too," he uttered softly. "But we're back together, and that's all that matters. Don't worry about it."

Her lips attempted to curl upwards, but her head and shoulders faltered. She was trying to hide her insecurities, but her suddenly going quiet and gently lowering herself to his side made him see right through her. Her hand was close to his bare one, and it seemed to be shifting and twitching with tentativeness. He was about to encourage her to speak out when her face rose. She was no longer smiling, and her eyes held a depressed darkness.

"I don't mean just that. I mean… everything."

"What do you mean?" he leaned in a little closer in response to her hesitance. She was beginning to blink rapidly again.

"You must have been so free before we met. You could go all around Spira freely, without rules. As long as you didn't come close to Bevelle you really had nothing to worry about," she slowly turned back to him, though she lacked the strength to look at his unmoving face. "But then the maesters trapped you, and… you had to go through so much pain. And now look. All this happened because I was so selfish that night, and I was too weak to go off alone…"

"Yuna, please don't say that…"

What she would do for him to be free again, but they never had a chance to begin with. She was too ashamed to stare into him directly. Instead, the hand that she had been too shy to hold had squeezed hers. The motion relaxed her. Her jaw did not feel as heavy just then.

"To be fair it was entirely my fault," he slumped against the roots. Strangely enough he had relieved his tension and was focussing on her with a look of understanding. "I could have chickened out and not gone to Bevelle in the first place."

"That's true…" she acquiesced, shimmying closer to her. Her shoulders were still trembling, so he slowly rubbed her upper arm with his thumb. She smirked and nodded with gratefulness.

"You're right. I could do without Seymour and all the world domination stuff. It sucks," she giggled at his abrupt insult. "But it's not like you caused anything. Seymour would've still done his stuff even if I wasn't there. I'm just a monkey wrench, Yuna."

"One that crashed my wedding and saved my life?"

"Well, if you put it that way…" he emphasised hammily, holding his chin in mock-thought. It prompted her to laugh once again; it was music to his ears. Once she got over her fit, an air of slight passion started to bloom from the playfulness. "I don't regret being with you. I'm glad I met you. Even gladder that we're here right now."

"And why's that?" she whispered eagerly, feeling the familiar spark in her gut – her affection toward her guardian – propel her closer to his face.

The hand around her shoulder slowly clasped the skin and drew her ever closer. The tips of their noses touched. They were entranced by each other's wonderful, glistening eyes. Their senses fell away until only each other remained. Their lips met in an innocent, everlasting kiss.

With their eyes closed, their arms brought them together in a tight embrace, with their other hands linking and resting between their bodies. Their quickening heartbeats synchronised. Their soft lips danced together and they swayed against each other's bodies with blossoming fires in their stomachs. Two months of pain – of turmoil and fear of the unknown – without each other's comfort. They had to fight down their hidden feelings for so long. They forgot about the whole world for once. They were lost in each other's.

They ended up on the edge of the island a while later. The spring water pooled around their bare feet, Yuna nestled in-between his legs, sharing the fruit from the tree. They relished in the gorgeous sights around them while in their favourite pastime: Stargazing, but made even more romantic by each other's small yet constant touches of affection.

"It's really pretty, isn't it?" he said, his pupils darting across the spring. They came to lay on his boots, his sword and the container, which were thrown haphazardly across the shore. He stifled a deep groan as he plummeted down from his high. "We'll have to appreciate this place. It's not that pretty beyond the trees over there, and I bet Geos doesn't like it."

"Just a little longer, then? Please?" she held onto his strong arms, mustering up the best hypnotic stare she could. He chuckled and jokingly rolled his eyes.

"As long as you want," he pushed himself against her backside to get a good look at the streams.

Now that reasoning was slowly returning to him, so was his whole dilemma with the aeons and the masked man's instructions. He found the imagery increasingly disturbing. Would he find the answers to his questions in this place? Was this even the right place at all? He theorised that they had stayed under the water a little _too_ long; perhaps that was why the sky was rippling like an ocean would, and why this particular place was a fantasy all on its own.

He carried his summoner to the shore once she was ready. With them both carrying one of the heavy objects and their stray hands linked together, they descended from their little heaven and into the harsh reality of the storm. They devised a route as they went searching for their ship: Stay just within the layer of trees so that they wouldn't be as soaked at the end. Along the way, Yuna was plagued with worries once again.

"Where will we go once we leave?" she quizzed to the sky, which was booming with thunder. "Will we be able to have normal lives, or is it just one thing after another?"

"We'll get through what comes at us," he stated boldly. He allowed the wind from the unexplored nooks of the island to dart across him. "I don't know what'll happen next, but we'll work everything out. Nobody's been able to stop us yet."

It took them a while to navigate the whole perimeter of the island, but at last they heard the mechanical moaning that only one machina could produce. From their points of view they could see the bow of the airship washed up onto the sticky mud, while the rest was subjected to the merciless storm wall and taking quite the beating. Tidus huffed in his realisation that they would have to dislodge the tonnes-heavy hunk of metal; not even the strictest diet in the world, which he was forced to regulate, would make it budge.

"Yuna, go in and we'll get some rest. We'll figure out a plan once we collect ourselves. Maybe take a nap," he lifted the heavy container from her tired arms and ushered her to go forward while he adjusted to the added weight. She disobeyed him, instead staying put and straightening her posture for him. "Huh? Hey, don't worry. Geos is just the same as always."

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," she bit her lower lip as she witnessed his expression's flexibility. She quickly turned around and headed toward the airship upon feeling her cheeks reaching boiling point.

"Same to you," was all he could manage to say. Other than that he was rendered speechless.

He parroted her flattery within his mind; from entering the bare-bones cabin and putting up with Geosgaeno's hysteria to falling asleep with her in his arms. Nobody had ever made him feel this important and wanted. He swore another vow to himself that very moment:

Whatever they did, he would have no regrets. If it would lead him back to his Yuna, his best friend, then all of the suffering was worth it.


	16. The Reawakening Of Lost History

**Chapter XVI**

* * *

It wasn't even hours later when Geosgaeno thronged the airship with digital noise, piercing the couple's much-needed sleep.

"There they are! Those spiritual musician people I saw before I crashed! I think they might be looking for— hey! Don't hit me!"

"Can it wait?" Tidus mumbled grouchily, shaking the pain off of his fist and sitting upwards. Yuna stirred and let out a lengthy yawn, subconsciously touching the tip of her head to his shoulder in her grogginess. The distant banging of a drum dug into their hearts.

"But they're right outside, as in just staring at me. What if they come inside and… steal those artefacts or something?"

"He has a point," Yuna quipped, which Tidus only sleep-nodded at.

They quickly got their shoes on and gathered their weapons. He pulled up the blinds and peered out of the window. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, so he took the mirror out of the container and used it to reflect the room's light. Through the splattered raindrops he could make out three colourful creatures, just standing there and nonchalantly playing their instruments. The storm didn't seem to bother them.

"They're creeping me out," Geosgaeno admitted. "Hey... Why were you two in bed together? There's another bedroom, you know."

"Let's just go," he urged, stifling an embarrassed groan and holding the door open. She uttered her gratefulness and left with a pink stain on her cheeks.

They were only on the boardwalk when the creatures started to react at alarming speeds. They stopped playing their music and huddled together in a circle, whispering heatedly amongst each other. The deer wouldn't stop talking in rhyme; the avian spoke with a calming tone and the wyrm alternated between intelligible and huffing smoke from its nostrils. Tidus gripped his summoner's hand tighter and exaggerated the flaunting of his large blade when they swarmed them.

"We are so sorry, Lord Shinryu. We thought you were intruders, so we had to send you both to sleep," the avian explained, strumming his harp with the last part.

"Honestly, we couldn't tell. So lift this storm with your calming spell," the deer pleaded, bowing deeply as did the wyrm. Tidus shot a puzzled look toward Yuna, who had plunged into deep thought. He ducked his head and triple-rehearsed the words he would use.

"Um… before I do that, I've been told I need to come here by somebody. Is there anything important on this island?"

"I do not understand what you mean. Nobody has set foot on your island for a long time," just as he finished, the wyrm swooped down and made a crude attempt to whisper in his ear; he could very clearly hear her pointing out his aquatic blade. "Unless you are talking about the temple?"

"Maybe?" he acquiesced before he felt a squeeze on his hand. Yuna was giving him a look of encouragement. She allowed him to clear his mind and take a deep breath. "I mean, yes. Could you take us there?"

"Certainly," the avian smiled with a twang of his harp. They boarded the airship and he ordered the wyrm (whose name was Xitha) to shove it out of the bog. With a little momentum and force it was launched back and bobbling wildly in the tides, with all of them soaked from head to toe. They were steered down one of the rivers that were flowing into the depths of the forest.

Within the maze of twisting trees was where the storm was the densest; they were almost blown off-course multiple times, but the musicians braced themselves and began to play a calming melody while Xitha flew up and covered them with her wingspan, which protected the group from the worst of the gales. Orb-shaped crystals began to bloom from the branches the deeper they sailed. Eventually the avian (who was called Borra as they learned in conversation) suddenly ordered them to dock, and they followed him up the hill toward the spring that Tidus had discovered just a little while earlier.

On the way, Tidus and Yuna managed to get some more background information from them: Apparently these musicians – Borra, Pukapuka and Xitha – were the assigned guardians of Shinryu's island and his temple which they had yet to see. According to them he would sometimes take long absences from the temple due to helping the Al Bhed and residing within Iutycyr, so these creatures – whose races were critically close to extinction – would be offered immortality in exchange for being bound to the island and keeping the temple safe. It seems that in their isolation from the rest of the world, they never learned that Shinryu had 'disappeared' thousands of years ago.

Tidus crossed his arms in musing as he thought back to the masquerading trap that was the Bevelle Gauntlet. His experience with the Al Bhed language taught him that 'Iutycyr' meant 'Eidolon'. The perfect tower in the perfect realm. Why then would it be named in the tongue of the race that was subjected to endless slavery and death?

'_Because Yevon didn't know it existed. Or they were hiding it from the world,' _he figured. To them, the Tower of Life was just a myth. But ever since he deciphered that relic after all of the suffering, he learned that it too was suffering in the same way.

Judging by Yuna's unanswered curiosity, she was never taught about Shinryu's existence. And now she was starting to direct strange looks toward him. She couldn't also believe that he was Shinryu, could she? How come everybody put faith into this assumption?

How come he was willing to believe in talking towers, elemental gods and giant sea serpents falling from a rift in the sky, yet the comparatively simple concept of reincarnation – or even ancestry – refused to connect with him? How come he wasn't correcting these creatures and telling him his actual name?

"Here we are," Borra's words snapped them out of his unaware state. They were standing on the edge of the spring. "Just dive right in, go through the doors and place Caladbolg on the pedestal. I assume that you'll want to take your lady along?"

"Wait, what? The temple's at the bottom of that lake?" Yuna was baffled. She could feel her spirits sinking already.

"It is not ordinary water. It is enchanted. You will be able to breathe in it like it was air, as Shinryu is demonstrating."

Sure enough, Tidus was blowing bubbles from underneath the water without any consequences. He resurfaced with a wide-eyed, excited expression; one that looked like he had just witnessed a miracle. He rushed back to the shore and invited Yuna to experience it for herself, and she too was entranced by the surreal situation. They either didn't mind, or completely forgot that they were being watched.

"She looks like a dove. Could our lord have found love?" Pukapuka whispered to her other musicians, giggling a little. She played a little tune on her trombone to compliment the couple's laughter.

"I wonder where that red-headed girl is, now that you mentioned it," Borra pondered.

While they were distracted, Xitha made her distasteful impatience known by blowing the couple over with a gust from her nostrils. While they let themselves be carried deeper into the vibrant depths toward their destination, she merely snorted deeply and smacked her drum. The wave of sound shot ripples of both water and crystal particles toward the island in the centre.

But they were hardly perturbed by their sudden submersion; Yuna had learned how to swim long ago. She put the techniques that she was taught to the test and glided over to Tidus with a grin on her face. He laughed fondly – he was proud of her newfound confidence. They clung onto each other for comfort as they descended into the growing darkness of the deep trench, relying on the lights that were flying all around them to illuminate the path.

They softly yet unexpectedly touched down on a brittle stone pillar. The orbs of light dimly lit up the platforms branching off from an opaque dome; the dots of white against the blue and black void vaguely resembled the starry sky. He took her arm and they weightlessly jumped from the pillar, falling between whittled-away statues and gardens of seaweed before landing on a wide marble walkway. They stared up at the dome with inquiring expressions.

"So how do we go in?" he asked. His voice was distorted and wobbly.

With perfect timing the floor below them beamed blinding azure lights from the corners. Once they conjoined in a pattern an earthquake sent the couple's legs flailing. The floor began to part. They were caught up in the suctioning whirlpool and – with startled yelps – fell right into a pool within the temple interior. Tidus immediately swam over to Yuna's side, helping her and her staff onto dry land. With the trapdoor sealing itself tight, the waterfall died away and the only noises left were their splashing and the low whining of the lamps.

The corridor ahead seemed to be endless and a journey all on its own. They could only discuss the repetitive patterns and tapestries on the walls for so long before their material ran dry – unlike the floor which their shoes squelched against. Instead, the opportunity turned into one of asking questions.

"I have a feeling I'm missing something," Yuna started with a wry dimple in her lips. "There's a connection, yet… there's a gap as well."

"W—what do you mean by connection? Yuna?" Tidus' eyes and eyebrows flickered back and forth. "Yuna, c'mon. There seriously can't be any way—"

"So you've heard Seymour's theory as well? Or perhaps you've seen that strange person in the sphere. Talked to him, even?" she steeled her gaze on the haze stretched out before them. "Tidus… did you know them before you came to Bevelle?"

"**No! **Yuna, please! Seymour's a complete nutcase; you know not to believe anything he says! S—seriously, everyone's just assuming I look like Shinryu because of some drawings. What a joke, right? H-he could have just changed how he looked or something…"

"I wasn't talking about Shinryu. I was talking about this 'Purgatory' he mentioned. But now that you brought it up..." she gnawed on her lower lip with both innocence and intrigue. He made nervous noises upon the realisation of her trickery, and now there was no way to escape from the conversation; making an attempt would make her either think him a coward or confirm her false assumptions. "You saw drawings of him? Where did you learn of his existence?"

"All from some Al Bhed journal I got while underground. Pretty much made me learn the language," he sighed weakly, finally giving in and shying away from her gaze. They had approached a set of doors by then; he threw them open in a hopeless attempt to escape the turmoil within his head. "But that's all it is, Yuna! Some dusty old book! Th—this Shinryu business must be a prank or some idealised symbol; this place's probably the home of those musicians. Yevon – the whole world – doesn't even know him, and he's an **aeon**! I—I can't be an aeon… There's no way—"

Yet… when he trampled into the chamber – sprawling walkways bridging the pools that the countless glistening waterfalls filled – a mural from the far side of the dome caught his oceanic eyes: Identical pairs. A painting of a tanned man with golden locks – the exact same eyes he had. The swirling waves that appeared to bind the caricature to its spot reached right around the dome, sporting the exact same colour.

He edged forward with trembling feet, incapable of watching his steps on the slippery silver bridges. Still the waves were continuing along the brim of the dome, reaching right behind the entrance, only ending abruptly to allow space for the golden-blue serpent to sport its body. He started to hyperventilate. His sword was beginning to slip from his grasp amidst his crisis.

"Tidus… you can tell me the truth," Yuna whispered, slowly walking up to him and taking his hand. Her reassuring smile did nothing to aid his overwhelmed, broken one. "It won't change anything about us."

"I don't know the truth," he uttered, seemingly disjointed from reality. He refused to speak after that.

He seemed lost – rooted to the spot. She hesitated when she saw what lay before them, but she gently coaxed him along the silver path; they needed to find answers. They descended onto a circular platform with engravings and a moat along the circumference. A mandala hung just below the mural of the man. In the centre lay a triangular pedestal with a rusted golden-blue sword stuck in it. An impossible ray of light was shining down on the sword's shelter from above.

Yuna went to examine the sword, but Tidus remained motionless still. He looked at his hands, the mural above him, back to his hands – he took off his gloves and lifted his hands to his painted counterpart to compare them. Even the tan was similar. But how could they be? He was a real human being versus cold, ancient scrapes of paint. He was _real_.

Yet his self-confidence was waning with every second. He was starting to feel like something else entirely: A lie. Not just his beliefs, but his whole existence. Had he always perceived his appearance differently from everyone else? Cid, Auron, Seymour, Yuna… Do they see his real self?

Was he always this 'Shinryu,' but was none-the-wiser about it? Had he simply been denying it all this time?

He had to save his sanity. There was only one way to confirm that he wasn't just thinking into it too deeply. With trembling hands he took out the mirror that he had brought along with him. After all this time it would finally get some use.

But before he could look upon his true self, the glass had reflected the ray of light above him. His shaky hands sent the beam all around the room, but suddenly his arm was paralysed. The beam had landed on the centre of the mandala. All of the golden light was absorbed by its tiny opening. It began to react and hum a droning, increasingly amplifying moan. It began to spin as blinding white vortexes formed from the four symbols.

To his horror he glimpsed at Yuna, who was now standing on the pedestal and tracing her finger over the sword's rusted coating. She was right in the mandala's line of fire, and the crashing of the waterfalls had drowned out her awareness. His arm had regained its will. He immediately dropped both his sword and the mirror in his panic, crying out her name and leaping toward her startled form. He had to protect her.

But it was too late. The mandala unleashed its power whilst they were both on the pedestal. Before they could comprehend it, the beams hit the rusted sword and engulfed both of them in bulbous, aquamarine crystal. Held in each other's arms.

* * *

"_Shinryu, are you sure I should be in here? It is your holy place, after all."_

"_Holy? Nothing's really holy about where I keep Caladbolg, Alb. As long as nobody steals it, I'm cool with it."_

He reached out to the fuzzy images, but found that his arms were formless. The same went for the apparition floating beside him. They were in a void of shapeless blue, stretching wide and empty with nothing but the images of the temple to accompany them. They had no choice but to watch them. They were bobbing and shaking, sometimes focussing on the gold-blue sword and other times on the Al Bhed man. They were memories from Shinryu's eyes.

"_It is a beautiful sword. I can see why you fell in love with it." Alb ogled at the blade's craftsmanship. Shinryu just let out a single understanding laugh._

"_Was with me through thick and thin. I'm glad the temple turned out really nice; that SIN thing's got a good body," he turned his whole body toward Alb. The clinking of light armour echoed throughout the temple as he did so. "So, Alb… About this 'mirror' invention. Can you show me it?"_

The object that the Al Bhed produced from his pocket was the exact same ovular mirror they had.

"_It is just a prototype, which is why it is so small. But I made sure it works. I got the idea when I looked into the ocean; I could see myself in the waves as long as the sun was out. This tool recreates the reflection effect with the added advantage of portability. And not just a person, but anything at all can be mirrored through glass as long as light is present. Strangely enough, light is redirected when it hits glass; it is not actually mirrored."_

"_Redirects light? Man, if only we could've done that back then. Would've made making aeons really easy, rather than waiting for stars…" Shinryu sighed, staring at the mysterious ray of light and then at the mandala. "Mind if I borrow it? I wanna show this to everyone back at Iutycyr. It'll blow their minds!"_

"_As long as you return it," Alb chuckled, handing it over._

The images focussed intently on the glass. He could see his own reflection… or was it Shinryu's? He honestly couldn't tell. The central point was suddenly blotched with azure. The images jolted and shook, and they could hear him stutter in pain. Alb was chuckling beside him.

"_The handle's a little bare, don't you think?" Shinryu tapped on the metal with the sharp edges of his gauntlet. "I could carve something stupid and cryptic on it. If you don't mind, that is."_

"_I will take it as your blessing."_

The images dissolved and were torn apart, scattering into the emptiness. The rusted Caladbolg had appeared before them, only now it was levitating. It began to shapeshift. It exploded with a plethora of blue, and an ethereal serpent soared from the cloud. It danced and twirled about them before splitting apart and penetrating their forms.

The unexpected invasion sent both of them into shock. They latched onto each other as they felt a heavy weight growing in their chests. Their insides felt like they had stagnated. Between their embrace, a force began to shatter the crystal around them…

* * *

Tidus and Yuna awoke with cold, numbing heads. They sat up and allowed the blood to get going around their bodies before standing. Their eyesight was still a little cloudy, but they quickly learned of the countless aquamarine shards that lay scattered around their feet. Sound and voice returned to them.

"Agh, what a dream… I feel a little funny," she shook her dusty tresses and looked toward her guardian. Gasps escaped her and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! What happened to you?"

"_What_ happened to me?"

An intimidating foreboding settled in his stomach. He searched around for the mirror he had dropped, and was met face-to-face with… himself. Only with a very slight hint of aqua in his golden hair and numerous gills in his neck. His lower right leg felt weird, so he rolled up his pant leg (which he swore had shrunk) to see that… the prosthetic was replaced with an actual leg. Not only that, but he noticed that his gloves had torn at the individual digits to make room for his longer fingers and webbing. And even after that, when he brought the black material close to him to examine the changes, a pair of circular blue lights shone where he directed his pupils. Glowing eyes.

And as he stared up at his reflection again – his subtle yet inhuman changes staring back – it dawned on him: Maybe had had been denying it. The body he thought he had was no more, and now he had to accept it.

And yet… he wasn't all that scared.

"Honestly, I don't look all that different," he stated in a chipper tone. He turned back to Yuna who had attempted to sneak up on him, flexing the new muscles in his fingers. "I mean… it'll take some getting used to, obviously. But there's nothing drastic, right? It's cool, actually! I mean… glow-in-the-dark eyes? And having both my legs? Pretty neat! Right?"

His stomach churned at her blank face and brief silence, but then she broke out into a sweet laugh and nodded. "At least you haven't changed on the inside… Tidus. I guess I was too used to seeing you as before."

He smiled affectionately. Maybe that wasn't actually his 'true' name any more, but if it was his and Yuna's preference, then that was all that mattered. He may be Shinryu in the body… but he was just himself in the heart.

"Well, I think I've found my _answer_. We should get out of here," she nodded in agreement. He gathered up the mirror and his sword; noticing his aquatic blade prompted him to turn back to the unaccompanied pedestal. "Weird. That sword's not there anymore…"

She hummed with a curiosity, but it quickly faded from her mind. Once again she slipped her hand into his as they searched for an exit; it felt foreign at first… but the familiar warmth curled around her skin. Although it would take a while for them to adapt, they would move past all that. They had been through much worse.

* * *

What Yuna didn't expect – and Tidus for that matter – as they swam through the temple's channels and surged up to the surface, was his impeccable swimming skills. He spun and glided masterfully through the water like it was just air. But in all his optimism he did not find the realisation disturbing; he thought it as another awesome benefit. With him just leading her along with his hand, he had managed to make her laugh and smile in excitement. He was so tempted to stay underwater and entertain her for hours on end, but he wasn't so selfish. They were on a mission.

It was only when they breached the spring that they felt the violent rippling in the water. The trees all around them were shedding their foliage and having their branches breaking off from the earthquake. They wondered what was happening until Borra and Pukapuka came stumbling up the hill, with Xitha in injured flight; she had shielded them from the avalanche of boulders.

"Lord Shinryu! Something is terribly wrong! Cast the Spell of Tranquillity and flee this island! Quickly, to the storm wall!" Borra pleaded, as did Pukapuka – in rhyme of course – before the three of them descended from the hill again. The foundation of the island was growling lowly.

He turned his head toward Yuna and started twitching his fingers. They both sprinted after the creatures, spiralling down into an even more chaotic island. "Um, Yuna? Problem. How do you cast instant magic?"

She fidgeted with a lack of confidence. She was very concerned for his health; he had to use an aeon's magic despite having no experience with the concept. They caught up with the spirits and Geosgaeno, who were in hysteria. Each of them boarded the airship and it quickly thrusted through the animalistic river by their command. Cracked crystals had fallen into the bank and lit up the way. Stinging raindrops seeped into Tidus' skin and were giving him unknown, yet powerful feelings of strength.

The tremors were only getting worse with every passing second. They made the last stretch to the open sea, where the weather was so relentless it physically hurt them. Uncertainly flooded Tidus' mind the more the musicians were yelling desperately at him. He and Yuna approached the far end of the bow, and he turned to her with a need of assistance.

She instructed him on his stance and concentration; he held out both of his palms to the storm and maintained a steady position with closed eyes. It did absolutely nothing, not even a spark flew. She felt a tinge of fear, but was then intent of trying to share her magic with his; she stood behind him and clasped both of his scaly wrists, also entering a period of concentration.

But just as she did so, Tidus jolted and let out a surprised yelp. He boldly commanded Yuna to stand back before the invisible force imploded from his palms. The sonic boom shot through a section of the storm wall with deafening silence and tore a parting wide enough for the airship to fit through. Geosgaeno held no remorse for Tidus' collapsing as he had already surged through the rift as quickly as mechanically possible. The musicians bid a quick farewell to them as they were pulled back toward the island by its contracting spell.

But the tremors still continued, even whilst between the calm and finally reaching the freedom of the sea again. Yuna rushed to his exhausted side and helped him back to the deck. But then they heard dying shrills. Crumbling bricks. Loud, terrible, nightmare-fuelling roars and whirrs from Bevelle's direction, which sent them to their knees. They crawled to the airship's other side and were presented with the sight of mass destruction.

Bevelle's larger buildings were being flung into the ocean like they were mere specks of dust. The gardens and the outlands had been completely swallowed by the tidal waves. The temple had been decimated and in its place was a gargantuan crater jutting out from the city's core… with a colossal moth-like machina rising from its depths. It unfurled its six legs and penetrated the cliffs with them for support. The eyes from its demonic head lit up the night sky with a menacing white. Liquid-black wings spread to their full span and started to shed their scales, which mutated into tricoloured fiends which would infest the post-catastrophic city and its waters.

They didn't even have to tell Geosgaeno to keep sailing south, even if it would damage the engines from an abundance of stress. Tidus should have taken Cid's warning seriously; this was no ordinary supermachina.

This was the supermachina that would end the world.


	17. Poisonous Faith

**Chapter XVII**

* * *

"I don't know what that… _thing_ is," Geosgaeno spat, unsurprisingly finding the strength to sail even faster into the southern continent. Black patterns were seeping out from Bevelle's landmass and targeting them in their span. "but I'm not sticking around to find out! Get inside!"

Yuna did as instructed, helping her exhausted guardian into the cabin haphazardly. Thankfully there were no more battering raindrops to increase the risk of slipping. Tidus fell down on the couch in a heap, drawing in long, painful breaths. She told him to stay as she got him a glass of water and a duvet.

He hoarsely whispered his gratefulness upon her returning. She nursed and cuddled into him, whispering words of brittle reassurance. He could tell that she was trembling as well; the shadows of the colossal machina's extended parts took up the windows and were terrifying her. He wrapped a shaking arm around her shoulders and they lay there in silence, directionless and too scared to say anything. The airship headed south, and so south they went.

Tidus almost fell asleep against his summoner's shoulder when he started to hear frantic whisperings. Grunting, he peeped over the back of the couch to see that the voices were focussed around the bedroom. Of course. Maybe they could tell them where to go, but… how come he could hear them from such a distance? He shifted and slowly rose to his feet, Yuna following almost immediately after.

"Support me," Tidus muttered, which she obliged to after protesting. She kept a tight hold on his body as he hobbled over to their bedroom, curious as to why. She couldn't see or hear anything unusual in its direction.

He took a second to regain himself upon reaching the narrow space connecting the two rooms. The voices were more audible, but incomprehensible. Seeing that the door wasn't completely closed, he parted the gap ever so slowly until they were both able to fit inside. Above the container lying on the floor, the apparitions of the three aeons were flurrying about in front of the window. He pitched a raised eyebrow to the strange scene.

"What kind of machina is that?! Yevon… that cult should be ashamed of themselves!" Valefor seethed. She gripped the straps of her suspenders, which were bolted to her sides, in pure anger and fear. "Machina like that weren't supposed to happen…"

"Speaking of…" Ixion caught sight of the couple amongst the panic; despite his weak eyes he was still very alert to his surroundings. He approached the young man with his arms behind his back. They stared sternly at each other for a few moments as the ruckus began to die down. "Do you know I'm in front of you?"

"Um…" Tidus spaced off to the side and laid eyes on Yuna. She was obviously very confused; she couldn't see what he could, after all. He tried to give her an understanding look and turned back to the aeon in front of him. "Yeah. Well, now that we went to that temple place—"

"No way… Is that you?" Valefor's voice was no more than fragile breaths as she looked down on the man's reformed body.

Her wings froze up and she fluttered to the floor. She inched closer to him, reading his nervous face like an open book. Fragments of words bubbled up. Her fists clenched and unclenched. But after a while, her glistening eyes lost their warm glow. She hung her head dejectedly and trailed off to the other side of the room, filling it with sorrowful sighs.

"What's with her?" Tidus and Ifrit blurted out in unison. The former exclaimed and turned to look at the much larger aeon, but his actions weren't reciprocated. Ifrit kept staring at Valefor, seemingly ignoring him. Ixion did the same for only a moment before shaking his head, directing both Tidus and Yuna to the bedside.

"Never mind her; she's been moody for the past while," he explained with a blank expression. Once they had settled on the bed together, the platinum-haired aeon examined Yuna's oblivious demeanour up close. After humming and ogling at the golden staff on her back, he strolled back to Tidus whose eyebrows were furrowed. "I see it now. No doubt about it, the lady's staff is summoner-brand…"

"Uh… so I think you're saying—"

"_I'll _explain, thank you very much," Ixion smirked. He beckoned Ifrit with his head and they both knelt down in front of the container; Valefor was still sulking in the corner and Yuna watched Tidus follow some –- in her point of view –- spontaneous directions. "Well, since you have this mirror that saves us some time. Pretty lucky call, actually. I'd hardly recommend going back to Bevelle with that monster nesting in it, so…"

Tidus bent down and picked the mirror up, fiddling with it in his lap. He couldn't help but be fearful of the tiny object; it had sent him and his summoner into stasis. Stasis… who knows for how long? Hours? Days? Weeks? When he woke up, he did so as a different form… How long did it take? Would he be stuck like this forever?

'_It was cool at first, but… Am I still human?' _He was risking another emotional crisis. He masked his feelings for Yuna was still watching him. His inner conflict made him partially forget to listen to Ixion's likely very important information, so now he was somewhat lost. Something about the 'Mirror of Reformation,' Djose Temple and Yuna's summoning skills…

"Old Fart, you talk too much. Look at his face; it's all babbling to him," Ifrit snorted. Ixion shot the aeon a stare full of static and challenged him to explain the situation better. He merely chortled, got to his feet and pounded his chiselled chest with pride. "All right, listen up. What you're seeing are our souls' essence, bound to our artefacts; our bodies are trapped in that weird dimension between Spira and Avalon. I won't even try going into that; spirit science isn't my thing.

But you've seen our temples, right? You've seen those mandalas in our chambers, right? Right. Those are actually really small portals to our temples' Avalon counterparts. Only two things can get through them: Space distortion and really precise, reflected, natural light. That's where that mirror comes in, eh? That's why we had to chip holes in the walls to let the light into the room. Man, Magus was really picky with—

Oh, uh… Sorry. Anyway, take yourself and your summoner to our temples with our artefacts. Better start with Djose first. So with that, Ixion here'll have the _honour_ of giving you really strict, unforgiving instructions. So you can repeat them all to the summoner. To reconnect our bodies and souls. To stop whatever that crazy guy's doing."

"All right, Ifrit. We get it," Ixion rolled his eyes, staggering to his feet. He muttered something about him 'not doing much better' as Tidus set down the mirror. He seemed to get the idea. He just hoped that he wasn't too overwhelmed. "Well, hrm… Considering the speed of this ship, I'd say we'll reach Djose in a day. Do you still have things to do? You look pretty tired."

As if on cue, a system alert went off in the main room. Startled, Yuna stuck her head toward the direction of the door and then turned back to Tidus for confirmation. He nodded, muttered his farewells to the air and they strode to the threshold together.

He noticed that they fell silent. Uncomfortably silent. They were shifting in place, refusing to talk and had fake emotions plastered crudely on their faces. He slowed down intentionally and ever so slightly tightened his grasp on Yuna's hand. She stepped over. He stepped over. He pinched the metal handle of the door and gently closed it over.

One, two, three…

"_What the hell?! So you're telling me Shinryu was alive all this time?! No way! That's ridiculous!" _ That raspy, dangerous roaring… that was definitely Ifrit. He carefully pressed his ear against the door some more. That system alert was really starting to annoy him.

"_No, listen to me. That's Tidus, that guardian from the expedition. Somehow he has managed to fuse with Shinryu's body essence. He has no memory of us," _came Ixion's contrastingly calm voice.

"_That's the point! How can any old kid just… adapt to an aeon's body so perfectly? Shinryu's __**dead**__. That freakin' Anima told us!"_

"_Don't you dare bring him up. And, yes. Technically. If you recall—"_

"_Shinryu's not dead," _Another voice. A young, feeble one. Valefor's. "_He was right there in front of us. O—or his... Well, you know. So… So what if he doesn't remember us? He can use the Spell of Tranquillity! Just like what the force of water's supposed to do! So… we might still have a chance, you know?"_

A low snarl sounded. _"He sure took his sweet time coming back to Spira. More than four-thousand years…"_

"_Come on, don't look at me like that… Just let me believe."_

Valefor sounded like she was about to cry. Tidus' heart constricted at the realisation. Shaking off the urge to come barging in again, he straightened himself out and walked his summoner to the system computer. He smiled down at her out of reassurance; he had a lot of explaining to do. He mindlessly tapped on the keyboard whilst doing so, letting his reflexes lead him. The message that had appeared on the screen mildly surprised him.

Auron's Commsphere had been broken. But it wasn't the lost connection that threw him off… It must have been severely delayed. Not even buildings could have survived the supermachina's awakening, let alone a sphere. The rustling of fabric let him know that Yuna felt the same way.

"Hey, Geos? How long has it been since we went up that hill on the island?"

"Oh, uh… About that. Yeah, hold on," the mechanical voice paused for a while before the unravelling: "It's been two weeks."

* * *

To be honest, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. His body was as stiff as rock when he awakened from the temple, and he soon found out that the whole airship was infested with some strange, yet crystalline insects from Shinryu's island. But yet that dream felt like it lasted all but a few minutes… and if they really were shut away from Spira for a whole fortnight, then…

They had to make everything right again. Maybe they could have prevented this apocalypse-to-happen in time if he hadn't listened to the masked man. But clearly destiny worked in mysterious, pulse-pounding ways. Besides, he couldn't dream of the world in only black and white. The supermachina's wings were clearly linked to another current worldwide catastrophe. One that desperately needed his and Yuna's best efforts to dissect and cure.

And the first operation on their list was the entirety of Djose.

Dawn broke, but the continent was still shrouded under a dark quilt. Even from some miles away, they could still witness the erratic, disturbing movements and colours of both the wildlife and the vegetation. Thumping, throbbing, beating… as if the landmass itself was undead and the dwelling of parasites.

Tidus and Yuna eventually made the decision to only bring Ixion's horn with them, leaving the rest of the artefacts sealed away in tight confinement within the airship. Even then they weren't entirely confident; they had decided to dock the airship a long distance away from the actual shore and let Tidus swim them both to it. Only then did they start the trek into the cursed land, taking caution with every single footstep.

The liquid pathogen (which Tidus had nicknamed 'Nightmare' in tribute to his brother's research) was definitely the root of the infection, as they had to put their stealth to the test with the appearance of the tricoloured fiends. Something was definitely wrong with the landscape as well: The trees' barks appeared sickly and… translucent, with what appeared to be bloated veins and vessels running underneath. The rivers and lakes were now pools of grey sludge with traces of carbonated red, and looked highly poisonous. Even on top of the highest rock pile they could find, the patterns seemed to span even beyond the horizon. The biologically-impossible blight was surreal. And severe.

"Djose was like this ever since you left," Ixion's apparition appeared to Tidus, both displaying equally as disjointed frowns as they hid under some jutted stones.

"Tidus, look," Yuna's voice was quiet horror as she pointed to an anomalous crater not too far away from them. With the lightning towers dismantled and the boulders chipped away at, the temple was completely defenceless. And the fiends were intelligent enough to figure that out. "I wonder if anyone's still alive…"

"If they are, we'll have to help them," he declared with a determined grunt, sliding down the pile one instance at a time. "Let's go."

The putrid stench from the 'water' and the squelchy heartbeats from the 'trees' were slowly draining him; the mere thought of their membranes brushing against his skin made him want to squirm. But they couldn't back down. He guarded Yuna as they ascended the steep hill preceding the sudden drop toward the temple. Swarms of fiends were creeping to and fro the coppery walls. Once again they disguised themselves within the rocks and debris into the foyer, bracing themselves for any sneaky assaults.

And they made a wise choice, though not in the way they expected. A monk sprinted toward them, half-crying and half-shrieking, with a broken pylon held high in his grip. He swung it down on Tidus, who just about managed to catch and pry it out of his arms. The monk crumpled to his knees when his fists failed him. Anguished moans sounded from the chained doors around the room.

"D—demons! Witches! Right after you took Ixion away, the storm plunged us into chaos! How could you do this to us?!"

He was now curled up in a ball and suffering in his own shock. Yuna knelt down and pointed out a deep cut on his cheek. The Nightmare liquid was pooling up in the scar and the surrounding skin was discoloured. It was already taking its toll on the monk's sanity…

"You… you advocates and your maesters are the Devil's disciples. Yevon was a mistake!" he swiped and clawed at Tidus' legs as he wriggled around on the floor. "Give back the horn! Please, give us an aeon's blessing! Free us from this disease…"

"There's nothing you can do right now," Ixion's spirit said to Tidus. "We'd better get to the Chamber."

The Chamber was still in the same demolished state as it was before, which was understandable considering Djose's status. There was something very different, however: The crater in the middle had been cold and empty when they first came here. Now they could feel inhumane auras seeping from the depths and see the faint glows of Nightmare fiends scuttling below. Fright racked their minds.

"Don't be afraid. Focus on me; repeat after me," Ixion reassured Tidus, his apparition glowing brighter.

He leapt to the other side of the Chamber – daring not to look down – and stood underneath the beam of light. The Summoning was about to begin.

"Place my horn on the pedestal, but don't let go."

He complied. Sparks penetrated his damp palm.

"Hold the Mirror of Reformation to the mandala. Reflect the light, but don't let go."

He complied. The mandala absorbed the light and divided it into the four circles. They spun around and shone on the horn with blinding intensity.

"It's not over yet! Tell her: The summoner must unbind my soul from the horn."

He yelled the instructions back to Yuna, refusing to tend to the pain in his arms and eyes. A ritual like this from a long distance… He had to put faith in her. He watched – almost in a trance – as she twirled and danced with the golden staff. Her invisible force breezed by him and gently, yet painlessly warped his insides. In his mindless bliss he didn't realise what was happening around him.

"Tidus! Move out of the way!"

Ixion's voice pierced not only his ears, but the whole temple. Tidus yelped and dove to the floor before his limbs were engulfed in the horn's sound-shattering blast. Ixion's spirit was mutating within the light, distorting and roaring in millions of colours as the mandala's vortex swallowed him whole. Silence. Nothing but the hollow echoes of the wind, until…

The whole temple's foundations began to rumble. Supernaturally dense bolts of lightning impaled the land of Djose, painting it in neon-blue and striking down the Nightmare-infected life. They could hear the monks above and the fiend below screaming in horror. A low chanting vibrated throughout the temple as the mandala was overridden with electricity, unleashing its cosmic force on the unstable floor adjacent.

It died down shortly afterwards; all that the beams left behind were sizzles and static in the shape of a circle. But in the middle of them was a middle-aged man, his features and clothes slowly taking shape as the molten white faded away. Tidus slowly stood up as Ixion approached his horn, slowly clutching it in his long fingernails and lifting it to the sky.

The next thing, a malicious bolt of lightning erupted from the horn's pointed edge. The fiends below were banished to silent death.

"So we meet at last," Ixion muttered to him before, with a jolt in his boots, leaping over the gap in a split-second. As he closed in on Yuna, who had been silent ever since he was summoned, she fell backwards into his body with a frozen expression.

"Yuna!" Tidus scrambled to her side at a much slower rate. "Is she okay?!"

"Her soul needs time to gather itself," Ixion muttered quietly, giving her over to Tidus who heaved in relief. His weary body leaned into his horn for support as they ascended the stairs. "Connecting with an aeon, let alone summoning one is draining for a human."

"Ifrit's next, right?"

"How straightforward," the aeon chuckled with amusement. "You're not even fazed. It's like we already know each other…"

Tidus fell quiet at that remark; he recalled his eavesdropping last night. Shinryu was presumed dead, and Anima… He never heard of any Animas. His musings were disturbed by whimpering monks bursting forth from the doors and the hallways. He must have heard a hundred unique emotions when the group laid eyes on Ixion. He stepped back to protect his summoner as the monks fell into a sympathetic heap. They presented numerous badly-infected Nightmare victims to the aeon.

"O' Father of Lightning and Wisdom, bless our brethren with your holiness! Cure their terrible infliction and end their suffering!"

Ixion could only give them sorrowful, pitiful gazes. His eyes darkened with the loss of energy as his ponytails slipped in front of his face.

"Followers, I… I am sorry. But I cannot," he suppressed a sigh upon seeing their expressions break. He started to stare at his hands. "This disease before you – an aeon cannot cure it without consequence. I am magic, and this is magic's antithesis. With my contact it will explode with its dying breath. And since it spreads both in and out—"

"I knew it. False gods," one of the monks scowled. "Another lie perpetuated by Yevon! Avalon, Yu Yevon, everything!"

"Invoking pointless hatred will only make your infection worse," Ixion declared with a tinge of worry, but they weren't having it. They had descended to jeering and hissing, from both their disillusions and their festering disease. He thumped his horn on the floor twice. "Tidus, the least we can do is take those who aren't affected and get them to a safer place. I'm afraid I can't help the… unluckier ones."

"But there's gotta be—" Ixion's eyes glazed over and he fervently shook his head. Tidus finally sighed, feeling helpless. "Yeah… Okay. But my ship is…"

"They've disowned themselves from Yevon. I doubt that they would care about the machina any more. Do you?" the aeon directed the last part toward the monks. Nearly all of them shook their heads; all they wanted was to escape this chaos. He limped over to the window to check for any dangers. "The coast is clear for now. We should be heading on,"

"You better lead the way," Tidus suggested, looking down at the woman in his arms. "Can't fight like this."

"Lord I—Ixion, please…" one of the infected was slapping his hand on the ground and trying to cave-in his head. It was the same one who attacked them before. "Kill me. I don't care anymore; I just want this pain to stop!"

"You… you would discard your life so easily? Is it that bad?" Ixion was baffled, as was Tidus. The latter tried to convince him otherwise but it was hopeless.

"What's life with something like this?! I—It's gone to my head! I… I see…" he suddenly started shrieking and crying, repelling the rest of the monks with the terrible display. "Claws! All over me! Stop! Please, stop! Save me!"

Hallucinations.

Ixion looked to Tidus, and then back to the atrocity unravelling itself before him. He stalled for a moment, waging a battle within his ancient head before forcing himself forward. With both fists shaking he raised his horn along with the rest of his body, pointing the tip at the growing black wound on the victim's face. He tightened the grip on the bone. Energy flowed through him as he held back his growing weakness.

'_High Lord Zaon, forgive me for taking this life…'_

And the monk's body was nothingness.


	18. Nightmare's Influence

**Chapter XVIII**

* * *

As always, the path back to the airship was awkward and solemn, even after such a miraculous occurrence that would stamp over the pages of the history books. The refugee monks were scampering and jittering about Ixion, who hung his head low as his horn just barely grazed the ground. Tidus retreated to the back, looking at the aeon with a quiet sort of sympathy.

Some wasted time, stomping on the shoreline and aneurysms later, Geosgaeno and Tidus finally compromised and they all boarded the airship. All of the monks carelessly discarded their Yevonite robes and curled up around the lounge. He laid the still-unconscious Yuna down on their bed and went to clean up the clothes. They were all black with flowing white sleeves. They wouldn't look too out-of-place if he patched parts of them onto his tattered garbs…

He dropped the pile onto the nearest kitchen counter and checked his surroundings. Ixion had disappeared somewhere, and he had a hunch he knew exactly where. The aeon had been notably disturbed after dissimilating that Nightmare-afflicted monk's body. Most likely he had to reassess himself with the ones he confided in the most.

But still, Tidus was ever the curious one. It wasn't even his business to go snooping in on their privacy, but he _did_ want to help. Or at least know what was going on, because it seemed unlikely they were going to impart their problems on him willingly. He squeezed into a narrow corridor and reached the off-shooting, small room. It was shut as expected, but Ixion's wobbly, loud voice breached the thin metal.

"_I didn't want to do it. Honestly. I know that he wouldn't have wanted it, and I wanted to respect what he taught us…"_

He kept stammering and Tidus kept his ears open for a response… but nothing came, even as the aeon continued. Either he somehow couldn't hear the conversation or Ixion was talking to himself. He risked pressing his ear closer and closer, but all he got were crisper earfuls of Ixion's lamenting.

"_A disease that mutilates the mind and body of a human, a disease that makes death more desirable than life… And yet, people are willing to exploit it. They seriously think they can control such devastation when it can claim them in seconds. They want to __**use**__ this power, but for what gain? What desire?" _a growl escaped his mouth. "_We have to stop this. It doesn't have the right to be in Spira, let alone take it over."_

A long pause ensued, with Ixion groaning and sighing before speaking again.

"_Ifrit, get a hold of yourself. We'll figure out what to do later. Valefor, we'll bring Tidus into this later. He needs to learn our ways as we go along, and 'memory refreshers' will do more harm than good—"_ he groaned again and Tidus could hear him pacing around the room. "_How strange I bring that up. Somehow, I feel that that magic which harbours that disease seems familiar… It certainly isn't a natural part of the planet._

_This disease is passing on through some black liquid of some kind. It's in the rain from those storms, and those fiends… I feel like the answer's right there, but at the same time, there's no connection to anything I know. Unless it has to do with something at the Sanctuary, but… It could be a possibility. It could not. It's so frustrating not being able to jump to conclusions."_

Ixion didn't speak for a long while afterwards, and when Tidus heard his footsteps coming closer to the door, he glided back through the corridor for his own secrecy. What did he mean by their 'previous lives,' and this Sanctuary? Was he referring to Iutycyr? The more he pressed the issue onto himself, the more his brain felt like it was turning into mush. Maybe he was right. If the aeons told him everything out of the blue, the confusion would turn him into a blubbering vegetable. What's to say he wasn't talking about something completely unknown to him?

A god's affairs weren't a human's affairs… even if he did have a god's body. Dropping the subject for his sanity, he turned to the piles of robes and carried them into his bedroom. Settling down on the covers, he got some sowing materials and began to cut up the robes with the precision of his claws. It was almost terrifying, to be frank. If he lost control of them… The mass within the covers began to stir. Tidus looked over at her warmly, dispelling his musings.

"Oh! What happened? I just felt funny, and—"

"Your soul forced you into sleep because of that summoning, or something like that," he explained, shifting closer to her and turning back to the robes. The sensation of the lattice felt awkward on his glossy skin. "I'm just fixing up. I'm taking a nap after this."

"I see…" Tidus raised his head in response to her uncertainty, which turned into looking at her own clothes. Her wedding dress, he noted sadly. It was damp, muddy, torn and all of the feathers and even some of the dye had fallen away. On top of the unbearable memory of that day, it was just plain unhealthy for her to stay in it.

'_But would Yevonite robes be any better?' _he challenged himself. All of his spare clothes were cremated with his previous ship as well. And then he mentally kicked himself in the head. He took an untouched pair of robes, cut off all of the Yevonite markings and presented them to her. "Yuna, you should change into these. I'll throw out that stupid dress."

She smiled and took them, with Tidus naturally having the incentive to turn away as she changed. Some moments later he felt her sleeved arms wrap around his waist, and her face against his back. He felt a faint heat rise to his cheeks.

"You're pretty brave, staying in a room when a woman's changing," she smirked devilishly.

"Would you rather I hang out with the old folk?"

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. He just laughed and ruffled her hair – mindful that he only used his palm –before lying down on her lap at an angle. She sneakily swiped the sowing materials and began patching up the holes in his dungarees.

"Too bad those monks'll be staying with us for a while, but it seems like the right thing to do. We'll be dropping them off in Luca," Tidus explained, managing to distract her busy eyes. "We'll just have to survive until then. Guess I'll have to teach myself how to fish."

"But what about you? You don't eat fish."

"Seaweed and mushroom sandwiches," he scrunched up his nose. She giggled and patted his head out of pity. "Good thing I saved up those rations. I dunno what they put in those meat chunks to keep them fresh, but I'm glad."

Tidus suddenly felt exhausted. He let out a large yawn and curled up, his legs slightly twitching and kicking away the wedding dress. Yuna shook her head with good nature and positioned him more comfortably. She could also feel the sudden change in humidity affecting her. Just in time she managed to collapse onto the duvets without forcing out the wind from his gut.

"We must be in the south already," Yuna mumbled, slowly losing her gumption.

Tidus nodded lazily. How was Geosgaeno so propellant all of a sudden?

* * *

The city of Luca had been stripped of the contagious, celebratory jubilance that it was known for when the refugees arrived. The locals on the docks wore bleak and troubled faces, sometimes looking to the skies in paranoia after hearing the same inhuman roars. A fair few clamoured around the airship in hopes that it was an emigration vessel, but we instead pushed aside by old men in shaggy black robes. They and the rest of the crew headed down to the locked-down plaza, with some of the locals towing along like disciples.

Ixion struck down on the central statue with his lightning, rousing the attention of the main populace and that of the mayor's.

"The maesters have betrayed us," the leading monk spat into the podium microphone. "We gave them faith and they gave us deceit. We donated to the poor while they were being robbed. The maesters painted their castle in royal and trusting colours, but now it has fallen away. We looked up to them, but all along they were wishing for our deaths."

He pointed to the northern sky, urging everyone to clench their eyes and strain their ears as the supermachina bellowed across the world. It was all that needed to be said.

Over the succeeding days a rescue operation was conducted by the Lucan council, and as Tidus and Yuna replenished their supplies with emergency handouts and more protective gear, rescue ships were sailing to other smaller islands and returning with hundreds of families. Luca had turned into a colony; the last remaining city and the last remaining hope for the human race.

'_I won't let you win,' _Ixion's brittle fists shook as Luca began to disappear under the horizon. From elsewhere, the sounds of hundreds of storms boomed in his ears. He nodded his head to the two teenagers and they all went into the airship.

* * *

"Ix… Ix. Hey, Ix!"

"You're getting on my nerves."

"I just want to talk to you, Old Fart!" Ifrit's apparition huffed and crossed his arms behind his head, seemingly floating as the necklace in Tidus' hands pulled him up the jungle hills. "You're looking under the weather. Somethin' to do with that village back there? Cause I don't blame you. Don't worry though, when I get my body back then you can take it easy."

The older aeon responded by disintegrating a Nightmare-afflicted fiend which was hiding in the bush just to their left, causing Ifrit to stammer and fall into an embarrassed silence.

"I don't get emotional, regretful or insecure over the things I couldn't have helped." he growled, stabbing the horn into the ground as his spine duelled with the ascending ground. "If you're acting like the leader, you'd do well to learn that. Now focus."

Ifrit began to choke on his words in shock, quickly switching between the older aeon and the sizzling bush. Rather than admitting defeat however, he glided toward Tidus and attempted to strike up another conversation with him. He and Yuna just stared vacantly into space.

Ixion stifled a discouraged sigh as he, once again, brought up the rear of the group. From an outsider's eye it would appear that Ifrit was treating the situation like a game – a barricade that could be trumped with clichés and boastful words. He often found himself comparing the aeon to a basic 'all brawn but no brains' stereotype at times… and he wondered if that was a little too harsh on him.

Ifrit was his friend. They had known each other ever since they created Spira – he the egotistical bodybuilder and himself the cranky old man. They were an unofficial comedic duo for the other aeons and even themselves to laugh alongside their bantering. Even Zaon, in all his splendour and wisdom, would let chuckles slip past his stoic face whenever he saw them together.

Zaon… he was the true leader. He was not an unknown identity hidden behind stacks of paperwork, nor a silent alpha overlooking the lonely mountain, but a man. Polite and understanding, one willing to hear out their accomplishments and problems. Perhaps Ifrit, with all his good flaws, was compensating and trying to project their absent master's confidence.

Thousands of years have passed, with Zaon's voice lost in the wind before he could even say goodbye. If only he could know what happened to him, and to the original Shinryu.

'_Hypocrite. At least practice what you preach,' _he chastised himself for getting distracted. He snapped his head up to check that he hadn't gotten lost. Quite the opposite, as the rest of the group was just about to enter the temple. Feeling a strange kind of emptiness in his gut, he cleared his throat to get the others' attention.

"I'll just stand guard out here."

"Are you sure?" Yuna asked with a worried tone.

He raised a silver eyebrow, but then thumped the ground with his horn. "Who's been killing the fiends all this time?"

Ifrit snorted at this. Ixion waited until their backs were turned to let the hurt pool inside of him. He trudged up the stone theatre and sat a few metres from the overlook, just beneath a tree. Luca's patrol had already been at the port, as the massacred village was quarantined and they had passed a few rescue ships on the way. He groaned as his muscle pains dithered down his legs, aimlessly twirling around his horn by the material grip.

His light-blue eyes were fixated on a lone cloud in the distance. His emotions shrouded his fatigued form, followed by a heavy guilt. He imagined the cloud to be his master, slowly moving across the island and edging toward the wall of jungle trees. He spoke in weak whispers:

"Why do I compare him to you?" his fingers slowly played with the stray blades of grass. A faint throbbing began to sound in his ears. "Why me?"

"Because you're scared, Ixion."

"Because I couldn't protect you, Zaon. And…"

"And you want Ifrit to become like him, Ixion. And help him, Ixion."

"Yes…" he was in a trance as his heart drew faster beats, and the pounding in his head got even heavier. The cloud was drifting out of his sight, and he crawled closer to the cliff's edge with a need to follow it.

"Can't I follow you, Zaon? I need…" all his eyes could catch was the space of blue and white. "I could do with your guidance."

"Of course you can, Ixion," the aeon laughed to himself as the bulging roots of the tree encouraged him to jump. His eyes fluttered shut. "They'd be better off with me… Ixion."

A deafening earthquake split apart the entirety of Kilika, launching trees and making dirt mounds implode. The sudden impact wrecked Ixion's ears and ripped him out of his trance. His reflexes fought a futile battle to get him away from the cliff's edge. The horn's bottom tip grazed the squirming vines that were coiled around him; it was enough for them to flail around in insanity, tossing Ixion to the side with a violent velocity.

His vision was fuzzy and his memory was in shambles. The tree's natural bark broke off forcefully, some small shards piercing his legs, revealing the mutated flesh beneath. Ixion wheezed and tried to get onto his feet before the tree's main roots, now worm-like organisms, shot up from underground and once again kicked away Ixion's featherweight body.

Slimy warmth crept up Ixion's arm, soon finding its way to his neck. He was barely conscious and his muscles were going numb. His eigengrau filtered the colours of a blazing fire flitting across him.

"No way! The trees too?!"

"Are you okay?" came Yuna's gentle voice as she held up his torso.

A few minutes passed, and Ixion found the strength to open his eyes. He was propped up against the short theatre walls, Tidus and Yuna hovering beside him. Straight in front of him was Ifrit's complete and silhouetted form, laying waste to the masquerading Nightmare fiend. A few streams of fire later, it was dead.

Ifrit rubbed his neck and exhaled grey smoke, kicking the squelching trunk a few times before coming over to kneel before Ixion. His skin was almost the same colour as his hair, and his arms were devoid of weight.

"That thing got you good, Ix. I'd be laughing at you, you know," Ifrit smirked and poked the aeon's chest to check if he was still awake. His amber eyes lost some of their glow and he turned to the side, rubbing his neck in shame. "I'm sorry for what happened back there. Dunno what I was thinking to be honest."

"I'm sorry as well," he said. "I _was_ a little angry at something. At least you can deal with the fiends. Bonus points for being one I couldn't finish."

"All right! Handshake?"

He didn't get a chance to speak before he was yanked up by Ifrit's heavy hand. The fire aeon laughed joyfully as Ixion was shaken all around, Tidus and Yuna snickering in the background. Ixion got tired of it after a while and pulled away, facing the cliff once again.

"Right. Let's head to Besaid. The trip down takes a long time."

The rest shrugged at his urgency and started down the path, but Ixion remained behind. He stole another glimpse at the sky with an inquiring grunt. Did a cloud used to be there?

* * *

The sheets and lumps of saltwater were levitating before Tidus' face, and all he was doing was staring at them. The soft crashing of the waves, the seagulls' squawks and Ifrit's babbling some distance away occasionally broke through his meaningless thoughts. He blinked once his eyes grew tired and the droplets splattered onto the sand. He grunted.

Sitting and talking next to Yuna, watching the ocean and practicing his water manipulation could only tide him over for so long; he finally gave him and let his eyes gravitate toward the distant lighthouse. The bridge was still broken and some of the stepping stones had been dislodged. Even a few months later, the image of his mother's mutilated body and his brother's turmoil hung fresh in his mind.

He stood up and edged closer to the lighthouse. Shuyin had been too eager to accept Seymour's Nightmare sample. Considering how he felt about Seymour, he was sure that he knew his intentions… but what about his own brother? He had thought over it after the expedition trip… and come to think of it, he recalled one certain incident around eight years ago.

He lowered his head and half-closed his eyes, trying to capture that morning as accurately as possible.

* * *

_It had been a few days after his eleventh. His presents consisted of sporty things and costumes of make-believe, but bizarrely enough, the one thing he really wanted was his name to be changed. Back then he was known as Tiida, which his mother explained was an old word for the sun. He wasn't having it though; he thought the name sounded way too feminine for a 'brave explorer like himself, and he insisted he be called 'Tidus' from then on. His mother just thought he was being silly._

_He, Shuyin and his mother had gone on a boating trip, which was mostly just catching fish and running around on tiny sand islands while the twin brothers pretended to be pirates. He came back home that evening exhausted and happy. Shuyin came back exhausted… and sick. They had thought it was because he hadn't left the house in a while, but the next day his illness kept getting worse. His mother eventually had to get the priests and doctors to look at him._

"_Mom!" he had cried, trying to get past her and to the door she was blocking. "What's wrong with Shu?"_

"_It's… nothing, dear," she had shuddered, gently repelling his brash actions. "Your brother's just getting a check-up, all right? I'm going in to see him."_

"_But Mom! I wanna—" she had quickly slipped into the room and locked the door behind her. His rebellious and curious fists banged on the wood. "Lemme see him! Lemme see…"_

"_Miss Levia… I'm sorry," his voice had died down upon hearing one of the priests. His brother's muffles could faintly be heard. "This goes far beyond just an illness. I'm surprised he's even gotten this far in life."  
_

"_Why? What's wrong?" her tone had been empty and distraught._

"_His immune system is very weak. Non-existent, even. To the point where even the chemicals in medicine could be fatal to him," the doctor had sighed following the silence. "All the sicknesses he had in his life could still be affecting him. Somehow his body has managed to hold them all down. But if it's not an immune system, then it's the closest thing to a miracle."_

"_I see… He was always getting sick, from as long as I can remember," Shuyin's mumbles were getting louder the longer his mother had kept quiet. "Are you saying there's no cure?"_

"_Miss Levia, I'm going to be honest: he's picked up a lot of bacteria from your trip. There's a high possibility his body will fail in the next few days," the doctor had explained. "If he does happen to survive, then take my advice: move him and his bedroom into a cold place, like beneath the lighthouse, and do not let him anywhere on Besaid. Furthermore, do not let him near you or his brother, lest his or your bacteria spread."_

"_What?!" Shuyin had squeaked. It sounded like he was struggling to get out of something. "So I can't go outside or talk to anyone ever again?!"_

"_Young man, unless you can get a different body or if we work out an alternative, I'm afraid that's how you'll have to go."_

_He remembered that Shuyin had started to cry, and that he was doing the same._

"_It's not fair…" Shuyin had mumbled with a hoarse throat. "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna make myself get better. I'll show you all."_

"_Young man, don't be—"_

"_You're the stupid one!" Shuyin yelled, ignoring his mother who was telling him to keep quiet. "Watch me! Someday I'm gonna be completely fine, and you know why? Because… I'm bloody gonna be! And I'm gonna be able to play with Tiida again!"_

_Out of breath, he had collapsed onto his bed, falling into a sleep for the rest of the day._

* * *

'_That's why he became a pyrefly researcher,' _Tidus realised, exhaling as the barrage of memories washed over him. '_As far as the doctors knew, he was incurable. He wanted to prove them wrong and have a normal life.'_

And that's where the Nightmare pathogen had come in. Shuyin must have thought that it was like any other case: experiment with the sample; record the results and send them to whatever facility he was in contact with. Tidus let his hands drop as he pictured an ecstatic Shuyin, thinking he had finally been cured and even able to do many things better than other people… only to be deceived and finally killed off by it. He felt a mutual anger bubble up inside of him when he connected the incident to the maesters.

As far as he was concerned, Seymour had murdered him. He didn't care if there were hundreds of contradictions to that logic; he had been intent on killing him, thinking he was his long-lost enemy and he wound up killing his twin brother instead. By that reasoning he too felt a sense of dread. Maybe if they hadn't looked alike…

He fervently shook his head, picked up the mask lying at his side and got to his feet. Valefor's apparition was hesitant to look him in the eye. With Yuna already following him and having called for the other aeons, they confronted the lone temple.

One day they would lay Nightmare to rest, and Shuyin would be avenged.


	19. The Dead Sea

**Chapter XIX**

* * *

A cyclone had shot up from the salty waters and cloaked Besaid with radial walls of water. Gnawed-on debris, wilted plants and chunks of aftermath from the fiend attack were dislodged and hurled toward them. Just as quickly as it awakened, it dissipated as a blissful boom of silence washed over the forgotten village. The lighthouse's dirty beacon refracted the amber light of the approaching sunset onto the temple's steps. A red-headed girl, barely standing over five feet and heaving hollow, webbed wings above the stone descended from them silently, clutching onto a waxed wooden mask.

The rest trailed behind and came to surround her, somewhat confused as she had refused to acknowledge them. She kept toying with and scratching her mask's surface before raising her head. Her crimson eyes scanned over Ixion, Ifrit... coincidentally blinked just as Tidus entered her sight, and then came to rest on Yuna. Her little smile grew into a toothy grin as she strode over to the summoner, holding her hands behind her back.

"So you're the summer-ner who's been wakin' us up?" her voice was wispy and not fully developed. She extended a hand out to the kindly woman; her index finger was stained pink and a talon was growing from it. "I'm Valefor. I've heard a bit about you!"

"Not even a reunion speech," Ifrit growled from the back, earning an elbow thump from Ixion.

"It's nice to meet you," Yuna bent over and let her hand be shaken fervently. A heartily smile tugged at her lips; she had never thought of a child being an aeon, but there was the evidence. It was really quite charming. "And from who have you heard the rumours?"

"Ack, that blue-haired sleaze – called Shee-more or somethin' – and then I met…" she paused for a second, slowly withdrawing her hand and using it to point at Tidus with her thumb. "that blond guy. After that attack happened."

Pairs of colours shifted to the man in mention. His face went red; obviously they were expecting a reaction, but he wasn't sure on which the correct one was. Maybe it didn't need to be correct. He came to stand beside his summoner and looked down at the aeon, who was even smaller from his view.

"Well, I remember you. I think you really helped me out back then," he faked a snicker, trying to catch her attention. An awkward silence and some head-scratching later, he casually curled his arm around Yuna's shoulder. "But, uh— we're gonna get along just fine, right? If Yuna can put up with me—"

A burst of anger flared up in her widened eyes as she took in the two teenagers' proximity. She balled up her fists. "Oh why, you…"

"Whoa! What'd I do?" Tidus flinched backwards, making a defending motion with his hands whilst Yuna made a noise.

Her glare dissolved immediately upon seeing his reaction. As her small lips blubbered and her hands twitched without a reason, an internal thought struggled through her hazed mind and finally triggered a realisation. At that moment some of the colour in her eyes seemed to have been washed out and was staining her cheeks, since she was trying to hide her embarrassed, watery expression from every angle.

"So I guess this confirms it." She couldn't hold back any longer. She dashed over to the hesitant man and buried her face into his gut, talons and wings digging into his tough skin. Bitter growls, though few, were louder than all of the others' protests combined. "This sucks. Why'd you hafta look exactly like him…"

"Val!" Ixion piped up, his bare footsteps starting toward them. "Don't even think about it."

"Shinryu's memories. Yeah, I get it," Valefor groaned, pushing herself off of Tidus with frustration. She twisted her whole body, apart from her head, away from him. "I kinda already knew, actually. Nothing wrong with wantin' t' believe something really badly, right?"

"Kids. Never understood 'em and their_ hormones_," Ifrit snorted sarcastically, storming past the group and toward the setting sun. "C'mon, rookies! I'm in the mood to smash in some maesters' skulls!"

"Oh, for the love of…" Ixion surged toward him with intent to plant some reminders in his head, while Valefor was promptly offended by the fire aeon's off-hand insult and temporarily forgot about her emotional outburst. Her little feet pattered on the dirt in pursuit as her wings gathered just enough wind to make her leap further.

Tidus stared unblinking at what would normally be a humorous scene, but as he focussed on the youngest aeon ("I was fourteen when I left Sanctuary! I'm _not_ a kid!" yelled Valefor who had bruised her knuckles on Ifrit's muscles, which held the density of rocks) he felt a pang of guilt for disappointing her. All of them, really. His likeliness to Shinryu was really having an effect on them.

Yuna lightly tugged on his arm, which was their sign language for having to go. As they were walking hand-in-hand and not-very-subtly eyeing the young aeon, she learned up to Tidus' ear and whispered into it:

"Let me handle the aeons for now, okay? Manners mustn't have existed thousands of years ago."

His smile brimmed with gratefulness.

* * *

"Cashews. The fruit of the gods!" Ifrit exclaimed, carelessly shovelling a handful into his scorching mouth. The addicting nuts melted on his tongue, their excess wavering across the kitchen table as thin smoke. Valefor huffed and fanned it away with the flick of her wing.

"Can't you wait 'til we set sail?" she asked with a cheek to her voice, ignoring the approaching tub of sweets that was supposed to buy her silence. "You're gonna make us starve by morning."

He shifted his suspicious gaze towards the sounds of crumpling paper. "I need the energy."

"Hey. Leader. A true leader always leaves the most for his comrades. They're all lookin' out for you and that," Valefor waggled a teasing talon at the aeon's munching face, thumping her shoes against the table's underside. She turned to the far end of the table. "Hey, Ix! You agree with me, right?"

"Right, right…" he sighed, distracted by fretting over the A2-sized world map. Being an experienced navigator in his previous life, he was routing out a path to get to the northern lands. The Wilderia Continent as they called it. Legends say that it was a holy land guarded by the forces of life. They were right to some extent; it was where the remaining aeons lay still in sleep, and it was severed from Spira by an ever-raging storm belt, much like Shinryu's island.

But to Ixion this map looked completely foreign. Tidus had tried to help him as best he could by scribbling notes all over the parchment, but this world looked nothing like the world he knew before that last, fuzzy memory. Everything was an island. The northern part wasn't even charted. The only assumption he could come to was that the freak storms flooded Spira entirely, leaving only the peaks of mountains standing.

Furthermore, with the supermachina and the storm belt at the centre of the world, and going to the distant east taking far too much time, the only possible route seemed to be directly north-west of Besaid, toward Bikanel… which was disconnected by more uncharted territory. A throbbing darkness at the back of his mind had taken hold. Was another storm approaching? A shadow of a memory torn from him?

Ifrit was eyeing Ixion with concern as his fingers wrung his bony face. The whole room was startled frantic when Valefor shot up from her chair. She beamed at the summoner who emerged from the side room.

"Hey, Yuna! How's…"

"He's napping. Thank you for asking," her smile was delicate and her eyes held content, daydreaming light. Her face contorted into a sudden seriousness when she caught sight of the map over Ixion's shoulder. "Have you worked out a plan?"

He gave her a grunt of agreement. He placed his finger on the corresponding path. "The only way is toward that large island, just up here. That unknown bit worries me, however…"

"Oh…" Yuna stifled a sharp intake of breath. She drummed her knuckles on the seat. "That's the Dead Sea."

"The— The what –you- say?!"

"Huh?"

"Yes," Yuna whistled through her lips and took a seat beside Ixion. She cleared her throat and searched for the words. "It was breaking news in Bevelle. Seekers and other sailors got curious about why it wasn't recognised on any maps. They would sail there and then never come back. Soon sailors would go out to find the missing sailors, and so on, and so on. That cycle died out when the council declared it too dangerous, and that it was an Al Bhed curse of some kind."

"No way," Valefor shook her head as the aeons looked at each other. "Come on. Quit joking around."

"She's kinda right, actually," Geosgaeno intervened. An inevitable occurrence. "Tidus told me that before we met, he would sometimes hitch boats and go out to that trail of islands out there. One day he went too far, and then he claimed to see bodies and ghosts on one of them. Poor guy's haven't had the bravery since."

"I'd better go and warn him," Yuna said after some silence. She went to the bedroom door—

"Or you can leave him alone," the ship locked it, gaining an irritated glare from the summoner. "Go spend some time with the magic alien gods for once. I'm tired of hearing you—"

Ifrit snorted, trying not to let his offence show. "Wow. You're not up to date with the lore, are you? For an immortal, you're not so smart."

"Could say the same for you, honestly. You get on my nerves," was the ship's apathetic response. Ifrit snarled like a dog. "So you'd better suck up to me, carrot-mop; I'm the only chance you guys have for getting through that ocean."

* * *

From atop the deck the only sounds that could be heard were the low humming of the airship's naval engines and the foreboding ambience from the sky's vast blackness. Storm clouds stained the night sky, thickening as they travelled further north. Tidus shuddered as he tried to keep his calm; he could almost feel the ship struggling against the oily, sludge-like water. He wondered how many decayed bodies and boats lay at the bottom of it. They say that those who stray past the island mounds never return. If he were to die here, he would at least know how the missing persons of Besaid and Kilika met their fates.

As he leaned against the safety rails, the glow from his eyes giving a bit of colour to the waves, he heard the cabin entrance sliding open. From there, small and quick footsteps trailed closer to him. The shadows of giant wings loomed on the metallic supports next to him. He turned around to give Valefor a small acknowledging smile before turning back to the ocean. They stood side-by-side, an awkward yet eerie silence drifting over them.

"I've heard that this place is cursed," Tidus started, eyes darting from cloud to cloud. He tried laughing to ease some of the tension. Considering everything that has happened he was also starting to believe in superstitions. This journey wasn't changing him entirely for the better.

"Yeah. Yuna and that talkin' robot thing told us. The Dead Sea, right?" Valefor offered him a pitying smile of his own. She was starting to feel guilty for her behaviour from yesterday. Besides… seeing the man that was always confident, suddenly displaying fear – it was pretty disheartening. "So I guess we're both on guard patrol. No offense, but it gets boring when everyone else's asleep."

Tidus just chuckled nervously and nodded, not saying a word. Moments passed before the discomfort caused her to pipe up again.

"'Cause, you know – I have hawk eyes. And 'somnia. Comes with having bird genes, yeah?

…Even though I can't really fly without help. I'm too small. I don't even have feathers. The wings're more of shields than anything.

…Wow. Not even tower patrol was as boring as this."

The two of them fiddled with the safety railings some more. The pressure of the awkwardness was almost too much to handle. But what could they say to each other? They hadn't exactly gotten off to a good start. Valefor almost felt like she should be _apologising_ to him. And of course, that would be too embarrassing to admit. Especially in front of someone who looks just like her '_friend'_, even though it would be so easy – and yet so selfish – to make the tempting connection.

Then the young aeon remembered. She had made a promise to him some months ago. Not from her physicality, but from her projection. The person that she always wished she could be, but the limits and quirks of her mind prevented her from being. Yes, she had promised to tell him everything if he could prove that he was the aeon that had gone missing all those years ago. Or really, everything she knew.

Tidus wasn't exactly what she had in mind; she had hoped from years of hearing human fairy tales and parables that he would be the exact reincarnation of the aeon that she had quietly _favourited_. But if he had his powers, and was set to fulfil his role, then they would be better off if he had some of his many questions answered. She didn't care what Ixion thought.

Her tongue clicked and crackled as she struggled to start a sentence, but finally she turned to the man who was also sharing the same reluctance. "I guess while we're alone and in complete silence for once, I could tell you our mission. If that's okay."

"Sure," Tidus accepted, wondering if she was wondering the exact same thing as he was.

"So," Valefor leaned against the wall, staring up at the menacing sky. "From what I know – and you can correct me on this – after we were thrown into deep sleep for some reason I don't remember, storms came down on Spira from then to now. And sometimes they would carry those scary black fiends that's been poisoning and killing everyone. I dunno if that's somethin' to do with Shinryu 'cifically, 'cause he controlled the water and all that, but the point is after we all disappeared, things were not goin' good. At all.

So, our role isn't only to keep things in balance and protect good people from the bad. We also had to protect Iutycyr. You've heard of it, right? It's pretty much our home slash heart of the planet. It's in Avalon, which is some special world above Spira. I don't know how getting between the two places worked. I didn't get going to Spira much.

But Iutycyr is super tall. Like, you could see into space at the top. It's also really big. That's why we had to kinda, uh, imprint some of our existingness onto it. One so that our magic is always present and keeping things under control in Spira, and also so that it doesn't fall through the ground and completely crushes Spira below. So we were always connected to that tower, technically. In return, it… I guess we just gave it a life, because I swear the walls would talk to me sometimes."

"You're getting distracted. Do you need a break?"

"No! I'm getting there, all right! So now we're completely disconnected from it, with no way to return, knowing that someday it's probably gonna just fall down from the sky and kill us all. So now we gotta round up all the aeons, figure out a way to get back into Avalon and save that tower. I'm more surprised it _hasn't_ fallen down after all this time."

Tidus recalled the relic from Bevelle's temple. It was where he had first learned the existence of Iutycyr. Perhaps its discovery in this dimension was telling them that there wasn't much time left. "So there's other aeons? Where are they?"

"First one off the top of my head is Yojimbo and his doggy, Daigoro. They represent the strength of humans and animals. They don't talk much. They just stand around looking tall and scary. They were mercenaries, so I guess it comes with the job.

The weirdest one is Magus by far. She's supposed to be for the plants and bugs, but she's really… picky with how she goes about things. She _loves_ humans for some reason. She even served as an apprentice for one. In her own Spiran temple.

And— Oh yeah, Shiva. The Cold Shoulder Mother, we all called her. Cold to the touch, always wrapped up in heaps of blankets and doesn't put up with anything. She was always telling us off for the little things, trying to make sure we weren't goofin' off. She always said she did it 'to wisen us up'. I think she just did it to be powerful. Sometimes I miss having her nag us in my dreams, though. And then…"

"She sounds like a lotta fun," Tidus laughed with amusement, dying down when he noticed her reluctance to continue. Concern filled his voice. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"There was one more," she muttered, balling her fists until the talons pricked her skin. "He was called Anima."

"Oh," he was a little taken aback; he had heard that name a couple of times on their journey, and it was followed with scorn each time. "Did he, uh, disappear as well?"

"Yeah. Only by his own will," Valefor kept staring into the sea. "I wasn't involved in it, but he sold out all the other aeons to the Zanarkand forces and Yu Yevon. After that he cut off his connection to us, the Machina War happened and that's around where this memory block starts. I don't know where his temple is; he was always really paranoid about his privacy."

Tidus blinked and started shifting around nervously. So there were two lost aeons. "Why did he betray you all? Why to Zanarkand? What did they do?"

"You _have_ heard of the war, right? Magic-centric Zanarkand wanted to wipe out all the 'unclean' machina and Al Bhed because it was harmin' the potential of mankind, or whatever they believed. I think they wanted us on their side 'cause we're the embodiment of that magic itself," she sighed heavily. "I dunno what Anima's goals were. I do know that he treated Yu Yevon like some sort of dad, even in Iutycyr. He was closer to him than with any of us. Even— uh, a-hem…"

'_Maybe even as close as with you,' _Valefor gulped, not daring to say it out loud. Maybe Ixion was right. Some things did need to be kept secret.

"He sounded real swell," Tidus inflicted with a bit of disgust. With his arms behind his head, something in the distance caught his growing attention.

"Well, maybe he still is. Us aeons're immortal. If he hasn't gotten… killed, then he might still be here on Spira. Lurking, waitin' somewhere. But why he would let the world he helped to create die, I just don't know," she stretched her legs once she felt them beginning to fall asleep. The fuzzy sensation ran all over her as she stood beside the taller man. "Hey, Tidus, don't go talking about Anima to any of the others, all right? They'd get mad if they found out you knew."

He ignored her plight. Out at sea, what looked like dim, purple spirits whipped and whirled from behind the rising haze. Perhaps they were Nightmare-afflicted birds. He was about to press his finger to his earpiece to let Geosgaeno know, possibly to change the airship's course. But before he could, the spirits suddenly stopped. They surged out of the haze and towards the ship with the speed of sound.

The two of them had no time to react before they smacked into Tidus with an unexpected force, sending him skidding across the deck and getting a concussion from the metallic walls. He could hear Valefor crying out for him and what sounded like her struggling. The spirits had shapeshifted into coils and hands in an attempt to bind her. His hand instinctively reached for his sword, but the force had sent the blade out of arm's reach.

He struggled to his feet despite the distortions in his head. More purple spirits approached the wall of mist, circling and closing in on the ship, leaving a radioactive trail behind them. Before the hands could drag her away she had adorned her mask. From within the gaps, her eyes turned from red to electric blue as her muscles tensed. Laser beams pierced the hands and coils grasping her, which shrivelled up and wilted away. She ducked and shielded herself with her wings until she reached the walls, crouching down to him.

"Here," she breathed ruggedly, plucking a violet scale from her wing and offering it to Tidus' mouth. He quickly swallowed it and his pain was vanquished. His mouth was filled with the bitter taste of lavender. "You warn the others! I'll st—"

She was cut short by her shrilling in agony. The spirits were now in dangerous abundance and their combined force finally broke through her wings, turning the fleshy parts inside-out and twisting the frames. She whimpered and crumpled to the floor. Tidus scuttled away and scrambled onto his feet, a million thoughts a second racing through his head as the apparition of a giant hand closed in on her petite body.

"Damn it! Where's my sword?" he scanned the deck for a few seconds before giving up. He tried to contact somebody, _anybody_ through his earpiece. It was broken. He began to hyperventilate as his claws dug into his skull. Every idea and course of action was eaten whole by his panicking. "Damn it, damn it! What do I do?!"

The confusion made him pitiful, and then temporarily drove him mad. He did the simplest thing he could do: Leap onto the hand and desperately claw and tear at it. A few spirits were torn into and flung away, which then proceeded to knock Tidus off as the hand retreated toward the mist, carrying Valefor within the clutched palm. Her cries were weak and laced with helplessness.

He lay on the deck, motionless. The raindrops soaked into his pores. The invisible aura about him was going wild. He got onto his feet, which were breaking the material of his boots. His glowing eyes pulsed with fury as he focussed them onto the hand. Onto Valefor. All of his thoughts and senses shot through his deathly, unblinking stare.

He stood firm as a statue despite the ship's sudden unstableness. The wind was howling. The waves were lashing. His force of nature was bending to his anger, his determination and his acceptance. And finally they struck. The hand was engulfed by and pulled in by the heavy tide. The spirits dissolved upon hitting the water, Valefor being trawled into the disturbed sea's depths.

A sharp flash in his gut snapped him out of his trance. Realising what had happened he dove into the sea without a second thought. He weaved and threaded between the currents, using his sight to seek out the exhausted aeon in the darkness. Even with the powers of his body he found it difficult to breathe within the water's odious spell. Sparks of purple lights loomed above the surface, swirling and wailing as they tried to pinpoint their prey.

He finally found her, floating on her back with her broken wings dragging her upper body downward. He propelled himself the rest of the distance to her; she was barely conscious and clamming her mouth shut. Ghostly noises came like a hive to his ears, whispering and uttering messages of hatred and torment. They didn't sound human. They died down when he clasped his arms around Valefor. The tides and sounds had also died down, and the spirits disappeared. Perhaps they were safe.

Preparing himself to ascend, he was not expecting a black arm to reach out gently for the two of them. He jolted backwards as bubbles escaped and sizzled away. There in front of them was an indistinguishable figure, its shape only outlined by the slight ripple in the currents and the particles. The hollow shells of pyreflies floated around it. It opened its non-existent mouth and emitted a deep voice:

"_What demons have formed from this abominable void – this soul-shuddering vacuum?" _it said, eerily. "_Some said it was Yu Yevon's doing, otherwise the weakness of man. But I know the abstracted, brooding secret that SIN's power hid."_

Time seemed to stand still as the apparition looked away from them, hanging its head in shame. It dissipated when circular pairs of headlights and the heavy crashing of metallic broke though the darkness. Tidus was shaken by the surprise and quickly broke through the surface, meanwhile checking Valefor's state. The lights didn't belong to his airship, but a familiar-looking cargo ship. Watchmen at the bow stared down at them before yelling at the other workers in Al Bhed, their golden hairs brimming platinum in the lights.

Relief washed over him as safety finally embraced him: The ship workers were lowering a slope for them to climb on; the lights had chased away the mist; his airship was not too far away and the shapeshifting, malicious forms had disappeared. It dawned on him that he needed to breathe. He looked at Valefor one more time before walking onto dry land. Her wings were in bad shape, and it was going to take some time for them to heal.

But it wasn't a lost cause, he thought. The Al Bhed would certainly offer all of the help they could. Bikanel mustn't be far off, and the tribe was well known for their physical practices.

* * *

And sure enough, Valefor was already on her way to recovery. Her wings were oiled up into a slimy mess and some of her scales were coming loose onto the tight linen wraps, but the pains in them were beginning to subside. She was sitting cross-legged on a bed, surrounded by circular bronze walls that made up many of the sub-rooms of Home, the 'castle' of the Al Bhed. Tidus was kneeling beside her, having wanting to check up on her.

"It itches," she gurned, shaking her whole body until the loose scales came rattling out of the wraps. The nurse nearby cleaned them up with a pan.

"At least you're getting better," he gave her a smirk.

"I know. These guys are even nicer than I remember. I guess Shinryu rubbed off on them a lot," she giggled lightly, trying not to let the sense of nostalgia emitting from the man's face overwhelm her. She grunted and plopped back onto the pillows. "So much for my 'somnia."

He made a small noise. Maybe her sleeping for thousands of years didn't have much of an effect. A buzzer on the wall went off. The nurse was carrying what looked like an apparatus made out of welded vials and tubes. She was pouting at the two of them and had a protected hand on the bed frame.

"It's time for the missus' medicine. Off you go."

He could see the aeon mouth a curse. So much for that opinion.

He was shooed out of the room and down the narrow hallway, taking care not to trip over any jutting joints or corroded holes. He turned the corner and was once again met by Cid and Brother's wide eyes and gaping jaws. They were still in the same place where he left them, as well as the other two aeons who were currently being questioned and ogled at by Home's many visitors and guards.

Tidus gave them both a sad smile, casually rubbing the sides of his fingers together. Where should he start?


End file.
